Red Wine Braised Brisket
Don't let brisket intimidate you. Cooking it low and slow in a rich, savory red wine bath for several hours transforms the tough, fatty cut of beef into something so tender and juicy you hardly need a knife to cut it. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
- 6 lb brisket flat
- 2 large carrots (peeled and cut into 3" chunks)
- 3 large celery stalks (cut into 3" chunks)
- 2 large yellow onions (peeled and cut into quarters)
- 1 bulb garlic (cut in half)
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 8-10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 cup water
- ⅛ cup beef bouillon paste
- 750 mL dry red wine (one standard sized bottle)
- 2 tablespoons diamond crystal kosher salt (divided)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper (divided)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)
Instructions
- Prep and season. Trim the brisket if needed. Season each side with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Place on a sheet pan and set aside. This step can be done the night before; cover the brisket loosely with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 300F. Place a rack in the top most position and lower middle position. Hang your oven thermometer from the top rack in the center of the oven. Adjust the oven temperature as needed until the oven thermometer reads 300F.
- Mise en place. Prepare the vegetables and herbs. Peel and cut the carrots, chop the onions and celery, get out the herbs, measure out the bouillon, tomato paste, water, and uncork the wine bottle. Make sure you have an oven mitt handy.
- Sear. Place the roasting pan across 2 of your stove top burners over medium heat. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan, enough to coat. Let the oil warm up until shimmering, then carefully sear the brisket on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. If you’re feeling ambitious and have someone to help hold the pan in place, use two tongs to carefully lift the brisket and hold it upright to brown the edges. Remove the brisket from the roasting pan back to the sheet pan to rest.
- Vegetables. To the same roasting pan, add another drizzle of oil. Then add the chopped carrots, onions, and celery. Stir frequently until the veggies soften and the onions are starting to become translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Tomato paste and deglazing. Add the tomato paste and beef bouillon paste and stir well until the vegetables are coated with it and it starts to brown and caramelize, about 3-5 minutes. Deglaze the pan by adding a cup of water, using the edge of your spatula to scrape any browned bits (the fond) off the bottom of the pan.
- Aromatics and wine. Add the garlic and whole herbs. Stir to submerge them in the broth. Push the vegetables and herbs to the edges of the pan. Put the brisket back in the roasting pan and pour the whole bottle of wine over it. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Braise. Place roasting pan in the center of the oven. Cook the brisket covered, until the internal temperature reaches 195-200F internally, approximately 3 hours. Actual cook time will vary depending on the temperature of your brisket before going into the oven; a good rule of thumb is to estimate 30-60 minutes per pound.
- Resting. Take the whole pan out of the oven and let it rest, covered, for 30 minutes. Then, remove the brisket from the pan, leaving the liquid and vegetables behind.
- Strain and reduce. Use tongs to remove the biggest chunks of vegetables from the braising liquid. Pour the liquid through a strainer into a sauce pot. Let stand for 2-3 minutes so the fat rises to the top of the pot. Use a spoon to skim as much of the fat as you can. Place the pot on the stovetop and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a low boil and maintain it for 10-15 minutes.
- Slice. While the liquid is reducing, carefully slice the brisket into ¼” strips. Return the brisket to the roasting pan. Taste the reduced braising liquid and add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper if it needs it. Then pour the liquid over the brisket into the roasting pan.
- Keep warm or serve. Serve immediately or cover with aluminum foil and let rest in a 200°F oven to keep warm. Thirty minutes before serving, increase the temperature to 300°F. After transferring the brisket to a serving platter, pour the liquid into a gravy boat or bowl for people to spoon over their brisket.
RECIPE NOTES
- A good rule of thumb is to assume ½-1 pound of brisket per person (uncooked), and 20-40 minutes per pound of meat for the cook time. The timing is always an estimate. The internal meat thermometer is the only way to know for sure it is done.
- If you don’t want to cook with wine, you can use beef stock instead. You will still want to use the beef Better than Bouillon with the vegetables in addition to the beef stock.