B is for Brisket

It is day 2 of the "Blogging From A-Z Challenge April 2015," and that means the letter is "B".  

Passover is on Friday, which means  my extended clan of Weiss relatives will gather together to read the haggadah - the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt plus prayers and commentary. I expect the usual - lots of complaining about the length of the service, arguing about rhetorical questions, singing everyone's favorite song "Dayenu" and eating a fabulous meal.

The role of host and hostess has been passed along the generations. First my parents, then my cousin Joyce and now me. Yup, I am in the elder seat, and husband Tom and I host the seder, which means I have a second responsibility - to provide the main meat  of the meal - BRISKET!

My mother's brisket is a vague memory, though I suspect it was as wild and wacky as she was.  Joyce's brisket I do remember - a light brown flavorless meat covered in a lighter salty brown sauce.

Therefore, when the mantle of brisket passed to my shoulders,  I resolved to to find a tastier version. And I did - the Passover brisket from Molly Goldberg's Jewish Cookbook by Gertrude Berg and Myra Waldo.  It is cooked in apricots and drenched in a sweet and sour sauce, and it was scrumptious. Everyone wanted leftovers.

Then, earlier this year I was at a friend's house and tasted her Texas style brisket.  Tender meat infused with smokey garlic goodness. "Ah ha!" I said. "Time  to open up our traditions and include such a brisket with our Passover goodies."

However, I did realize this would be an upsetting of our usual order, so I sent out an email to the family. When I got no replies, I figured no one cared enough to comment! Texas brisket it would be!

I googled Texas brisket and came up with a suitable recipe. It looked good enough, and I was ready to give it a go.  But then luckily for me, a real live Texan offered me her family recipe.  Elizabeth Ellis, the wonderful storyteller and cook, dictated her method for making Texas brisket overnight.

So, last night I whipped up a concoction of herbs, liquid smoke and Worschestershire sauce, rubbed it on 6 pounds of brisket, put it in a 200 degree oven and slow cooked it all night. I carefully followed her recipe faithfully except for one little yet important exception. Her recipe calls for trimming all the fat off the meat.  But, being a Jew and making a Jewish meal, how could I?  

So I will be serving an honest Texas brisket - Jewish style, with a little beef schmaltz!

Thank you Elizabeth!  I can't wait to serve it! 

But just in case, Tom is making a small traditional brisket, so any old timers who might be disgruntled will be satisfied too.  After all, this is a celebration!

What is brisket?

According to  About Food :
Brisket is a beef cut taken from the breast section beneath the first five ribs, behind the foreshank.
Fresh brisket is an inexpensive boneless cut that requires long, slow cooking to break down the collagen in the connective muscle tissues achieve tenderness. The long piece is cut in half for marketing. You'll find it sold as a flat cut or a point cut. The flat cut is leaner, but the point cut has more flavor due to a bit of extra fat (called the deckel.)
Brisket is one of the least tender cuts of beef, but it can be made tender and the flavor is tough to beat.