Monday, September 24, 2007

Cider Braised Beef Brisket - Slow Food for Fast Times

Braising is such a great cooking technique in general, and in particular for the new cook. It's such a forgiving method; The meat is always moist, the timing doesn’t have to be exact since it’s virtually impossible to overcook, and easy to put back in to cook longer, and best of all…most braised recipes make there our sauce or jus (natural juice)!

This is a classic beef brisket dish I learned from a German chef many years ago. As you'll see in this video recipe, it takes about 10 minutes to prep, and after a nice, leisurely 3-hour braise, you have an amazingly aromatic, and succulent brisket.

This is a great dish any time of the year, but it is especially perfect on that chilly fall night, or for that holiday dinner party. Since the average brisket runs about 5 to 6 pounds, it’s great for entertaining. And the leftovers? Forget about it; there is nothing like a brisket sandwich.

There is an aroma that this dish produces as the apple cider, garlic, and rosemary vapors somehow escape the tight foil wrap and waft throughout the kitchen and house that no scented candle has ever come close to surpassing. This is a great meal, and the best kind of aromatherapy. I served it with a new carrot dish I just developed that uses Chinese 5-spice with some surprisingly results. I will show that video recipe soon. It was a perfect match for this dish. Enjoy.





Ingredients:
5 pound beef brisket
6 cloves garlic
1 tbl dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste (this needs to be seasoned generously)
1 pint apple cider
2 tbl olive oil
1 yellow onion

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

looks great, it reminds me of corned beef.

Chef John said...

it should... its the same cut of beef! : )

hkfreak said...

Remember thecomment I made on the Flank Steak vid? Scratch that, I have 90 degree weather in Boston right now...and...why did you leave youtube out today? ...and...how long can we braise this until it gets all dry and burnt?AND...what about my CHOWDER!?!?!?

Chef John said...

havent uploaded to YT yet, but will. BTW, why go to youtube when you can go right to my blog?? And why the hell do you want to know how to dry it out and burn it? Is that how you like it? ....10 hours should be about right.

As far as the Chowder, I just haven't been inspired to make that yet (donation button), but maybe soon I will be inspired (donation button), but for now I have other things on the burner. Thanks for watching! (donation button)

hkfreak said...

Ehem...I make min. wage (donation button) and the thing is that making minimum wage for 10 hours (yeah, like I want it burnt) needs a nice dinner (donation button), but for now, I'll survive on SPAM and celery (donation button). I'm saving up for whatever you're cooking, though. "My Food Wish Fund: $9.50" (donation button). Although, at one point it was at $250 or something.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your vids chef. I use similiar ingredients with Coke (soft drink mind you) as my braising medium.

Chef John said...

Man, I would KILL to make minimum wage! lol, you lucky son of a gun.

Seriously, I didnt understand the... "how long can we braise this until it gets all dry and burnt?" question.

Cook it for 3 to 3 1/2 hours and its good, why cook it longer than needed? You'll have to clarify.

So, I guess I have to make free clam chowder now... and buy those expenisive clams... I bet they're probably cheap in Boston! Go Red Sox!

Chef John said...

coke? hmmm, i guess that would work...sweat, aromatic, cheap. I've seen it in many BBQ recipes and marinades.

hkfreak said...

Oh, I feel so sad, I'm going to give up on my job. There we go. I emailed my boss. Listen, I'll send you fresh clams if you need them, but...Snowe is best in canned clans...camped clams...cant can...cans in a clam...clams in a tan...Cs in a C. Plus, I wasn't joking. I sent an email.

hkfreak said...

And Go Red Sox? Not Bonds and 7-5-6? Are you undercover or something?

Chef John said...

I'm a closet Chowder head. BTW, Barry, if you're reading this... donation button.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'm sure this is a really retarded question, and I'm not asking it cause I don't believe what you said Chef John, but just so that I know for future... why do you need to cut meat across the grain? Is it just to make it easier to separate on a plate for eating? That can't be right.

Explain?

Chef John said...

protein strands (fibers) are very strong, and if you cut them with the grain, then you are chewing on longer pieces and the meat will seem tougher. If you cut against the grain (across the long strands) then you are chewing lots of tiny pieces and its much more tender.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, it sounds way better when you explain it. Cool, thanks.

Anonymous said...

umm... chef, where are the 2 video's per week that you're supposed to do for about.com?

Anonymous said...

chef, this is my problem. I sit 22 hours a day refreshing your site in hopes of seeing a new video.

Chef John said...

I think you read that post wrong, what I wrote was... "...By the way, I do plan on doing at least two Food Wishes videos per week,.."

In other words, while I work on all these About.com video, I'm still going to try and do a couple clips for the blog. As opposed to taking a break form the blog to just do prodution for them

I've done around 15 video recipes for About so far, but it take 2-3 week for them to be processed and appear on their site. Once they debut there, I can post them here.

For example the Kale Soup video I did for them just aired, so I'll be posting that today.

Anonymous said...

Hello! It looks delicious. Was it really tender. Like you touch it and it falls a part. i would like to watch that Mac and Cheese videos please. Please help me satisfy my need for the cheese. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I just noticed that the view of the camera is close up. I can actually see the sprigs of rosemary! Oh and I have a question how do you get the videos so isolated, so that we just hear your voice and the cooking. Does your wife not talk during taping? Too bad my friend went vegetarian, she doesn't know what she's missing! LOL ;)

Anonymous said...

I have to say, john, you must be getting into my subconscience. A month ago, I bought a brisket, and having never put one in the oven, decided to braise it(had no idea if I should or just roast it) in beef stock with onion and garlic. Thanks for showing me that thanks in part to you, I do know what I'm doing!!

Anonymous said...

Chef John, if I wanted to use beef stock and red wine instead of the cider, would that work? If so, how much of each would you add? thanks, B

Chef John said...

braised in any liquid would work, but the sweetness of the cider is what makes this dish great. For wine and broth I would do 1/2 and 1/2 each.

Anonymous said...

I just realized that I used apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider. I have no clue why I kept thinking apple cider vinegar. I guess I'll have to see how it turns out in a couple of hours.

Unknown said...

Chef John, I love brisket and so excited to try your recipe. My question is for a smaller brisket, like 2.5 to 3 pounds, how long should I braise it in the oven for? Thank you for your time!

Chef John said...

I can't give an exact time, but you just go until fork tender! Enjoy!

Greeter said...

I live in Central America and am not sure how to say "Brisket" in Espanol but I've tried this apple cider recipe twice with two different big hunks of beef. Both times they shrunk so much I wanted to cry. Is it the cut or something I am doing or is that normal? It still tasted delicious, though. I was just hoping to have left overs for the kids' lunches or maybe make some shredded beef sandwiches or something. And $5 a pound adds up fast when one is buying 5 pounds.

Unknown said...

WARNING: Chef John said a baking dish. I put the brisket in a PYREX baking dish. Put oven on 475 degrees F. Left it in and at 17 minutes it exploded-the glass broke all over the brisket and the oven. Took an hour to clean and had to go back to Costco in a hurry to replace a 42 dollar brisket for my father's day guests. Yes, it redeemed itself by being a delicious recipe that everyone liked but BEWARE-don't use Pyrex baking dish. I used my grandmother's aluminum baking pan the second time.


Unknown said...

Brisket is FALDA en Español

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about PYREX explosion, I've used PYREX for years, never had that problem. Used on this dish, not a problem.

Chef, this was an amazing dish, love brisket but I usually smoke it, but this was awesome, and quicker. Also did the five spice, ahum, seven spice carrots, both keepers.

heygoodcookin' said...

Hi, there..
this may seem like a dumb question, but I have a 1.65 LB beef brisket... How long to cook and what amount of apple cider do I need for the pan. Thanks a lot. By the way, love ALL your receipes.!!!

Alandh said...

Just made this for New Year's Day lunch, along with 5-spice Carrots, Parsnip & Potato Gratin, followed by Bananas Foster - A Foodwishes Feast! All dishes went down extremely well - thanks so much for your wonderful recipes!!

And Happy New Year!

Sidney said...

Just made this for dinner tonight to surprise the husband unit. A huge hit! Delicious though took longer because I inadvertently bought an entire giant brisket whoops.

Unknown said...

I went to the store for brisket and there was none to be had... bought a pork shoulder, followed recipie and stuck it in a crockpot instead. My fingers are crossed. This is probably my 20th chef john recipie. First time ive had to get inventive...

Mark said...


Chef John,

Hard cider or plain?

Unknown said...

How long to cook this recipe with an 8 pound brisket? Do you double the time? Or is there some sort of variable as poundage increases?