Pot Roast Brisket

The Whole Beast nose to tail eating by Fergus Henderson
Cookbook 42, Recipe 1 (total 86)

Earlier in the year I cooked from Beyond Nose to Tail, the sequel to this one. The first is focused a little more on meat in general, the second is more obsessed with eating pigs feet.

I feel like I'm back in first grade this week. For a while in first grade my teacher would make me sit at a desk in the hallway to take my tests. The point was to make me pay attention to exactly what was on test without the external stresses of other people handing it in before I was done or paying attention to the clock on the wall to see exactly how fast (or slow) I was moving through the test. On Wednesday I received a low score on my homework - Why? I answered the wrong question. Today the meal was just barely on the acceptable side of too salty - Why? I didn't read unsalted chicken stock. Back to first grade - Slow down, concentrate and pay attention to the details!

Did I like it? For a cow it was excellent. This is basically a do it yourself corned beef. The braising liquid is delicious and would make some excellent gravy. Neither Stephen nor I have cooked brisket before. I thought the cut was a little fatty - Stephen said "I know - that's what makes it so great!".

Recipe:
Part one: Brine your 4lb piece of beef brisket for 5 days. Brine: Place the following in a pot: 2 cups sugar, 2 1/4 cups coarse sea salt, 12 juniper berries, 12 cloves, 12 black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves (fresh from my garden) and 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil to dissolve salt and sugar. Let set until completely cold.

Part two: In a 4 quart roasting pot place: 2 peeled chopped carrots, 3 chopped onions, 2 chopped leeks, 2 whole heads of garlic with their skins on, 1 bundle of fresh herbs (sage, oregano, rosemary, thyme). Place the beef on top and add 1 quart UNSALTED chicken stock and 2 cups of red wine (Carmenere is great with beef). Cook at 350 covered with foil for three hours.


Note: Please take a close look at the picture below. Note the different muscles in this cut of meat. Below the line of fatty sinew is a relatively lean piece. Look at the top portion and note the fat surrounding the little rounds of meat - Fascinating.