Beef Brisket for a Crowd

I like brisket but I’ve never made one before today.

I cut the brisket in half so it would fit in the pot.

For tomorrow’s party I cooked a 4.5 pound brisket.

The pieces browned in the oven while I made the very simple tomato sauce.

First I let it come to room temperature (about an hour). I couldn’t decide whether to cook it in my large paella pan or cut it in half to braise in a Dutch oven.  I decided on the Dutch oven so I wouldn’t have to fool with foil.

I used unsalted crushed tomatoes from Trader Joe’s.

Then, following this recipe, I browned the meat in the oven while making the sauce.

Fresh rosemary smells so nice.

I used fresh rosemary from my pots near the porch and chopped it in a small electric herb grinder. I used about half the herbs and spices since my piece of meat was about half size.

The recipe makes a ton of sauce which would be good on rice or quinoa.

I replaced the wine in the sauce with bone broth because my family doesn’t like wine-flavored sauces.

The meat cooked for about 4 hours and is very tender.

The brisket cooked for 4 hours and came out nice and tender.  I let it cool then put it in the refrigerator.

I ate a little bowl of the spicy sauce.

The sauce is delicious and very spicy.  Instead of blending the sauce smooth I decided I like it chunky.  Tomorrow we’ll heat up the sauce and serve the meat at room temperature.

When was the last time you cooked a piece of beef?