Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket

In last week’s Friday Five, I said I would do a more in-depth post on the Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket that I made the same night as the challah.

Here’s the final product. Served it up with some roasted CSA green beans.

For those of you who asked, here’s the recipe. Martha’s original recipe (linked below) called for different measurements, but I made adjustments since it was for the two of us. I also didn’t use a Dutch oven, as I’m still in the process of shopping for one. So read on for my crock pot directions.

Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket

Extra virgin olive oil (2 tablespoons for browning, 2 for later)
2 pounds beef brisket, cut into 3-inch pieces (Martha’s recipe called for 3 1/2 lbs but I made less since it was for the two of us)
Salt and pepper (for meat and to taste)
4 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 bottle of red wine (I used cab)
1 can beef stock
1 can water

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Once oil is hot, place meat in the pan. Brown on all sides. This step takes a bit of time, but is worth it in the end. Once the meat is browned, places in the bottom of the crock pot.

2. Return the pan to the stove and turn the heat down to medium. Add shallots to the pan and brown and then add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the wine and bring to a slow simmer. Stir occasionally, making sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to get all the bits from browning the meat. Let the red wine cook down for 10 to 15 minutes. It should reduce by at least half. Once reduce, pour the entire mixture in to the crockpot. Add the can of beef stock. Fill up the can with water and dump in crockpot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4. Meat should be fork tender when finished.

So this was pretty delicious. I made a different crock pot brisket back in April and this was definitely better. However, I do have some notes. The wine taste didn’t come through as much as I would have liked. I think this was because I cut it with the broth and the water. It had some wine taste, but it was very subtle. I think this could be change by adding more wine or using water instead of the beef broth. I just used a bottle that we had leftover and I didn’t want to have to open another bottle. However, I think you could make a pretty awesome sauce using the leftover cooking liquid in the crockpot. Just dump it in to a saucepan and cook it until it reduces and gets thick. If it isn’t happening quick enough, you could add some corn starch and water to speed things up. That sauce would be jam packed with delicious wine flavor. It would also be good over mashed potatoes. Noted for next time.

But still this is a solid dish. While cleaning up on Thursday, Eric proposed the idea of him assigning ratings to the things I cook — for the good of the blog of course. So I introduce the Spork System.