Irish/Jewish Brisket to die for!

[Indenturedebtor]

Brisket and cauliflower were on sale the other day and I couldn't resist. I combined Bubby's Brisket recipe with a modified Irish stew recipe I learned a few weeks back, and *humbly* the result was incredibly good! Quite a few ingredients here, but the most expensive bits are the alcohol. If you feel like a hearty fall meal please do give it a shot!

Oh, and letting the Brisket marinate in the juices overnight before cooking will likely give an even tastier result! Make sure to brown it before you marinate, and I would suggest adding the celery/carrots just before you cook it the next day.

Brisket Ingredients:

6 cloves garlic - minced
2 T herb de provence (or thyme if you don't have any)
2 bay leaves
2 T black pepper
1 t kosher salt
evoo or vegetable oil or butter
1 yellow onion - chopped
1 can guiness/stout beer
1 cup red wine (that you would actually drink)
3 lb brisket
1-2 carrots - chopped
1-2 stalks of celery - chopped
2-3 cups beef broth
1 T sugar brown/white
1 T Worchestireshire sauce

Some chopped mushrooms for the gravy
4 T of flour

Mashed Cauliflower (better than mashed potatoes and much healther)

2 baker potatoes
3 heads of cauliflower - chopped into big pieces
5 T parmesan
1-2 T half n half

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Preheat oven to 350 F

Ok, get some olive oil in the oven dish you're going to use for the brisket (unless you're using disposable foil). Carmelize the onions and toss em in. Brown the garlic for a minute (don't burn it, it should just be a little brown) and toss it in. Now brown the brisket on both sides - you're not cooking it here but just getting a little high heat sear on it... then toss it in with the FAT SIDE UP! Now add your chopped carrots and celery, spices and liquids. Put everything in the dish and give it a few stirs. The Brisket doesn't need to be completely covered but should be mostly covered in the liquid. Throw in more carrots/celery/onions if it's not.

Bake with foil/cover on for at least 2 and a half hours. I reccommend cooking the brisket at 325 for 4-5 hours if you have the time :D You're going to want to periodically spoon some sauce on top of the brisket if it's not completely submerged... every 40 mintues or so. Also throw your potatoes in the oven and check on them in an hour or so. When they're done just set em aside.

When she's nice and tender take out half/all of the juice using a strainer and throw it in pot. Before you make the gravy you're going to want to make your cauliflower... of course you could time things to have it all ready at once, but the brisket won't go bad settling into it's juices. Anyways, to make the gravy simply add the mushrooms to the strained juices, bring em to a boil, and pour in flour as needed using the cold water method (mix flour and cold water, then pour the mixture into boiling juices and stir well). Of course you're going to want to boil and stir for a minute or so to cook out the raw flour taste.

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Mashed Cauliflower

Boil the chopped cauliflower until it's nice and tender. Drain the water and squeeze the cauliflower over a strainer to get AS MUCH WATER AS POSSIBLE out! If you skip the squeezing your mash will be watery and not very good.

Now just add the potatoe you cooked alongside the Brisket, your parmesan cheese, cream in a blender/food processor or mash by hand. Blend to personal taste for lumpy/smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can of course skip the potatoe if you want, I add them for texture but they aren't neccessary for flavor.

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Please let me know if anyone tries this! I guarantee you'll like it :D