Easy Passover Braised Brisket
Easy Passover Braised Brisket is slowly cooked in red wine, caramelized onions, garlic, fresh herbs, and date syrup.
Ingredients
- 4 lb 11 oz brisket lightly trimmed of excess fat
- ¾ tablepsoon smoked paprika
- ½ tablepsoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 4 tabslepoons olive oil or neutral oil divided
- 3 large onions thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar divided
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 tablespoon silan/date syrup
- ½ tablespoon dijon mustard (optional) imitation mustard for Passover use
- 8 oz shitake mushrooms stems removed, mushrooms sliced into thirds
- 1 head garlic cloves smashed flat with a knife, skins removed
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 large dried bay leaves
- 2 cups dry red wine (shiraz, cabernet, etc)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 340 °F
- Rub the brisket with smoked paprika, garlic powder, and a ½ teaspoon of the kosher salt. Set the brisket aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a 5 quart braiser or Dutch oven over medium heat. (See notes for an alternative cooking vessel method)
- Add the sliced onions and remaining ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté for about 8-9 minutes, until the onions are translucent and begin to brown. Add 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar over the onions and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes until golden. Remove the onions from the pot into a bowl and set them aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil into the pot and raise to medium-high heat.
- Add the brisket, fatty side down (important!), into the pot and sear for 2-3 minutes until nicely browned. Proceed to brown all sides of the brisket. Remove the brisket from the skillet and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium low then immediately add the water and tomato paste. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up all the lovely browned bits that clung to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the silan and Dijon mustard and stir.
- Add half of the onions into the pot along with half of the sliced mushrooms. Place the brisket, fat side up, (important!) on top. Add the remaining onions and mushrooms over the brisket and nestled alongside it.
- Add the smashed garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves.
- Pour the wine over the brisket. At this point, the liquid level should be a little over 3/4 of the way up the brisket. If it's not, add more wine.
- Bring the contents of the pot to a strong simmer then cover the pot with the lid, turn off the heat and gently place the pot into the oven.
- Cook the brisket for 4- 4½hours or until very fork tender.
- Uncover the brisket, baste it well, and allow it to cook in the oven an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the oven, remove the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. Cover the pot and allow the brisket to rest 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
I strongly recommend cooking your brisket the day before you intend to eat it as it's flavor improves in the refrigerator.
Brisket is easier to slice cold. Slice it straight from the fridge before reheating it.
If you don't own a Dutch over or braiser large enough, you can alternatively use a large 12 inch skillet to cook the onions, sear the brisket and deglaze and then cook it in a roasting dish tightly covered with a layer of parchment paper then aluminum foil on top.