Brisket In Coffee Brandy Sauce

Another brisket of mine with wacky ingredients that comes out to die for! Just ask all the guests that were at my Seder Demo last night: They were falling like flies! So sorry about indulging in some un-ladylike swagger! This star was recently born when I was tinkering with coffee, molasses and bourbon, a frequent combo in barbecues and short ribs, as a possible base for my brisket sauce, and I know it sounds like it would put some more hair on the chests of lumberjacks; but lo and behold, the results were fork-tender meat, and a wonderfully dark, balanced and unctuous sauce, much more toned down than the seemingly reckless sum of its parts. To adapt the dish for Passover I simply substitute honey for the molasses, and brandy for the bourbon, and it worked just as gloriously. Go for it! PS: Please don’t believe anyone who will tell you first-cut brisket is not as moist and tender as its second-cut fat and unappealing slab of a counterpart: they will never say that again after they taste this!

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Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Scatter the onions in a pan just large enough to fit the meat. Place the brisket on top of the onions.

3. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl, and pour the mixture evenly over the meat.

Cover tightly with foil and bake two hours. Turn the brisket over, and bake uncovered one more hour. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and wait about 10 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile strain the cooking liquids into a small saucepan, pressing hard on the solids (and discarding them), and reduce on a high flame to about two and a half cups.

6. Let the brisket cool slightly. Slice thin against the grain. In places where the brisket is very long, cut across first before slicing. Pour the gravy on top.

Tips:

In response to FAQ: No problem freezing the brisket. Here’s how I like to do it: Slice the brisket. Place the slices side by side vertically in a pan, tightly packed together like a deck of cards, just as if you were serving it now, and pour your gravy over it. cover the pan air-tight, and freeze. To reheat: place the frozen pan at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about one hour, or a little longer, until heated through. Or: leave the pan out to thaw a few hours, then reheat at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes, or a little longer, until heated through.

Notes:

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