Saturday, October 10, 2009

Bubbe's Brisket. Better than's Bubbe's.

Ya. I said it.This brisket is the bomb.
Take your time with this baby- it's best the second day of cooking and it takes a long time to reach perfection.

Disclaimer: This brisket will tease your nose as it is cooking; so get your crock pot, set it, and run some errands!!!

Without further ado (I'm not one to mess around), here is the brisket recipe that will have even members of the tribe (you know who you are) saying "This is better than my mother's!"

The ingredients:
2 cups yellow onion (about 2 medium large onions), sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons smart balance w/ omega 3 vegetable oil
2 large carrots, chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1 bay leaf
2.5 lbs of beef brisket
1 tbsp kosher salt
cracked black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup of water
4 cups of pale dry ginger ale (like Schwepp's)- it's about 1 liter.
The following ingredients...Just eye ball. You can ALWAYS add more during
cooking process to sweeten up the sauce the way you like it.

1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar1/2 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup- brown sugar & hicory BBQ sauce
a touch of honey (maybe 1 tbsp-- yes, eye ball it)
4 yukon gold potatoes, quartered

Day 1:
Slice the onions, mince the garlic. In the meanwhile, set your crockpot to high).
In your dutch over or crock pot insert (make sure it's one that can be used on the stove top!), heat 1 tbsp of the oil.

Add the sliced onions and minced garlic until onions are translucent in color; and softer to touch.
Remove onions and garlic for the time being to a small bowl.
Add other tbsp of oil to crock pot. Season brisket with half the salt and some pepper. Place this
side down in the crock pot. Season the other side with remaining salt and more pepper. Let each side of the brisket cook on high for about 3 minutes- until the brisket is more brown and has a bit of a crust on it.

Next, add the onions/garlic back to the crock pot. Now comes the fun!!

Place the crock pot insert into it's home (the crock pot). Add 1/4 cup water, 4 cups or so of ginger
ale (yes, this IS the secret ingredient), the carrots, the celery,
the ketchup, the brown sugar, the bbq sauce, the honey, and the bay
leaf.

Cook this on high for 6- 8 hours. When it is done, place it in the fridge over night.

Wake up the next morning, and place it in your crock pot again. Add the quartered potatoes. Cook on high for 4 more hours. Once warm, (not scolding, I've burnt my tongue many a time this way), taste the sauce and make sure you dig it. If not, add the various "eye balled" ingredients as needed.

So, the sauce is going to be fairly liquid. In a small bowl, take 1 -2 tbsp of cornstarch and add some water- enough to dissolve the cornstarch. Add this mixture to the crock pot of love.

Now, set the crock pot to low for another 4 hours.

When it is done, you are now ready to enjoy the very tender, very delicious Bubbe's Brisket.

Enjoy, friends. It is a great dish.
Facts, as always, are approximate...from thedailyplate/Livestrong.com


Nutrition Facts

Recipe Serves 8 people

Amount per Serving
  • Calories 332Calories from Fat 48
% Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 5.32g8%
  • Saturated Fat 2.03g10%
  • Monounsaturated Fat 0.14g
  • Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1g
  • Cholesterol 55mg18%
  • Sodium 274.88mg11%
  • Potassium 388.57mg11%
  • Total Carbohydrate 45.99g15%
  • Dietary Fiber 2.49g10%
  • Sugars 32.59g
  • Protein 25.95g52%