Joan Nathans Favorite Brisket Food

BRISKET IN SWEET-AND-SOUR SAUCE

Steps:

• Let meat stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Place everything but the soda, olive oil and brisket into a food processor, and process with steel blade until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in soda and olive oil.
• Place brisket, fat side up, into a heavy baking pan just large enough to hold it, and pour sauce over it. Cover tightly and bake for 3 hours. Turn brisket over, cover pan, and bake 2 to 3 hours more or until fork-tender. Cool, cover brisket and refrigerate overnight in cooking pan.
• The next day, transfer brisket to a cutting board, cut off fat and slice with a sharp knife against grain, to desired thickness. Set meat aside. Remove any congealed fat from sauce and bring to a boil on top of stove.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Taste sauce to see if it needs reducing. If so, boil it down for a few minutes or as needed. Return meat to sauce and warm in oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

JOAN NATHAN'S PICKLED TONGUE OR BRISKET

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wash and remove most of the fat from the tongue or brisket.
• In a bowl, mix together the salt, spices, brown sugar, and garlic. Rub the mixture all over the meat. Place the meat in a large, nonmetal container that will fit in your refrigerator or a plastic zip-top bag.
• Dissolve the saltpeter in the warm water and pour over the meat. Weigh the meat down with a plate and something heavy on top, like a clean stone or brick, and cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 10 to 14 days, turning the meat every 2 to 3 days.
• Remove the meat from the pickling solution and place it in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil, remove the meat, and discard the water. Repeat this process 3 more times.
• Place the meat in the pot and cover with cold water again; bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer , covered, for about 2 hours or until tender.
• If cooking tongue, peel the skin off while it is still warm. Cool the meat and slice thinly.
• Serve on a platter with mustard or horseradish or as a sandwich.
• Enjoy.

MOROCCAN BRISKET WITH OLIVES, TOMATOES, ONIONS, AND PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• With a knife, pierce the skin of the brisket in 5 places and insert the garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy skillet or roasting pan, add the meat, sear on all sides and remove.
• Add 2 more tablespoons of the oil to the same pan and saute 3/4 of the onions (about 6 cups) until they are limp. Add the turmeric, ginger, white pepper, bay leaves, celery, 1/3 of the diced tomatoes, and water to the pan. Stir-fry a minute or 2 and let cool.
• Place the brisket in a baking pan and surround with the cooked vegetables. Roast, covered, in the oven for 3 hours or until a fork goes in and out of the meat easily. Remove, cool and refrigerate, reserving the vegetables. You can prepare this a day ahead of time.
• Tomato-Onion Sauce: Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the frying pan; add the remaining onions and saute until onions are translucent. Then add the remaining diced tomatoes and simmer, covered, for a few minutes. Set aside or refrigerate overnight or until ready to serve the meat.
• When ready to serve, remove any fat that accumulated on the brisket as it cooled. Cut, against the grain, into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Return the slices to the baking pan along with the reserved vegetables in which the meat was cooked. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and reheat the brisket, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• Add to the tomato-onion mixture, olives, preserved lemons and 2 tablespoons each of parsley and cilantro and heat in small saucepan. Remove the brisket and some, or all, of the vegetables to a serving platter and serve, covered with the tomato-onion sauce and garnished with the remaining parsley and cilantro.
• Cut 7 of the lemons lengthwise, almost into quarters, leaving them intact at one end. You can also slice them thin.
• Using your fingers, stuff as much salt as possible inside the lemons, close them, and place in sterilized wide-mouth 2 quart jar. Squeeze the juice of at least 4 lemons into the jar. Allow to stand, half covered, at least 1 week on the counter, shaking the bottle each day, or until the peels sink with the weight of the salt in the jar. Then add a few more salted lemons, lemon juice, and, if you like, olive oil to cover.
• Close the jar and leave out on the counter for at least 3 weeks before using. When using the lemons, merely rinse with water, remove the seeds, and chop up for your recipes. Refrigerate after opening.

JOAN NATHAN'S FAVORITE BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325. Place onions and garlic in a 5-6 quart casserole. Season brisket with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat and sear brisket until browned, 3-4 minutes on each side. Place fat-side-up on top of onions. Add tomatoes and their juice, breaking them up with a fork. Add wine, celery, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Cover casserole and bake for 3 hours, basting with pan juices every 1/2 hour.

MY FAVORITE BRISKET (NOT TOO GEDEMPTE FLEYSCH)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Sprinkle the salt and pepper to taste over the brisket and rub with the garlic. Sear the brisket in the oil and then place, fat side up, on top of the onions in a large casserole. Cover with the tomatoes, red wine, celery, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary.
• Cover and bake in the oven for about 3 hours, basting often with the pan juices.
• Add the parsley and carrots and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, or until the carrots are cooked. To test for doneness, stick a fork in the brisket. When there is a light pull on the fork as it is removed from the meat, it is "fork-tender."
• This dish is best prepared in advance and refrigerated so that the fat can be easily skimmed from the surface of the gravy. When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350°F. Reheat the gravy in a pan on the stove. Some people like to strain the gravy, but Joan prefers to keep the onions because they are so delicious.
• Trim off all the visible fat from the cold brisket. Then place the brisket, on what was the fat side down, on a cutting board. Look for the grain-that is, the muscle lines of the brisket-and with a sharp knife, cut across the grain.
• Put the sliced brisket in a roasting pan. Pour the hot gravy on the meat, cover, and reheat in the oven for about 30 minutes.