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| Pot-roasted brisket with vegetables. |
I finally got my brisket, a cut of beef that is not readily available from Spanish butchers. I stumbled onto a specialty butcher and, yes! He pulled a whole brisket from his cold locker. I’m not sure why the supermarket butchers don’t sell it—perhaps it is a cut used for grinding into burger mix. The brisket, called pecho, or breast, is a boneless slab, about 3 inches thick, depending on the size of the animal. It needs long, slow cooking to make a tender pot roast.
I bought half a whole brisket. Weighing about 3 pounds, it was cut from ternera, a word that means “veal,” but in Spain is actually young beef. A young animal lacks layers of fat which keep it juicy. My brisket pot-roasted in a slow oven for about 2 ½ hours and was wonderfully tender, but not juicy as I remember brisket in America. Next time I have a hankering for pot roast, perhaps I will special-order a brisket cut from a beefy retinto steer. (See this post for more about the retinto breed of cattle. )
My pot roast started out as a Passover dinner (not an authentic seder, as we had no matzah), had a second-coming at Easter, and finished as filling for tacos.
For my brisket I borrowed from Sephardic recipes which often include a sweet ingredient, such as sweet wine, date syrup, or brown sugar. Here’s my version. If you’ve got a bigger piece of meat, increase the quantities and cooking time.
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| The slow-cooked meat is very tender, but, lacking fat, is not juicy. The savory pan juices add moisture. |
Pot-Roasted Beef Brisket
Pecho de Ternera Asado
Add vegetables to the pan with the meat, as desired. Remove them when tender. Once cooked, carrots can be seasoned and served alongside, room temperature or reheated. The cooking juices from the meat can be served straight from the pan or sieved; blended, or thickened with cornstarch or flour for gravy.
3 pounds beef brisket
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
3 tablespoons olive oil + additional for greasing the pan
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
1 red onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, peeled and chopped
¼ cup sweet wine, such as PX Sherry
1 cup chicken or beef stock, heated
1-2 bay leaves
4-6 pitted dates
Carrots, peeled
Potatoes, peeled
Chopped fresh parsley to serve
Place the piece of meat on a work surface. In a mortar crush the coarse salt with peppercorns, garlic, and pimentón. Stir in the oil and vinegar. Spread this mixture over the surface of the meat and allow it to come to room temperature.
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| Ready for the oven. |
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Lightly oil a roasting pan, Dutch oven, or large cast iron skillet. Spread the sliced onion and chopped tomatoes in the pan and place the meat on top. Pour in the wine and hot meat stock. Add the bay leaves, dates and whole carrots. Cover the meat with a sheet of baking parchment that has been dampened and slightly crumpled, to facilitate fitting it around the meat. Cover the pan with foil and seal the edges. Place the pan in the oven for 20 minutes.
Lower temperature to 300ºF.
Continue roasting 40 minutes more. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the foil and parchment. If carrots are done, remove them. Add potatoes. Turn the meat over and baste with some of the pan juices. Add additional stock if pan seems dry. Cover again with parchment and foil and return the pan to the oven. Roast until the meat is fork-tender, about 1 ½ hours more, basting once or twice.
Remove the brisket to a cutting board and allow to rest 10 minutes. Slice it fairly thinly. Discard bay leaves from the pan. The pan juices can be sieved, if desired.
To serve, reheat the sliced meat in the pan juices. Serve with carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle with parsley.
Pot-Roasted Spiced Carrots
Zanahorias Asadas con Especias
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| Add spices and olive oil to cooked carrots. |
Here’s how to season those carrots that roasted with the meat. Add the spices and dressing and serve them room temperature or reheat, if desired.
Roasted Carrots
Dry ginger
Ground cumin
Raisins
Pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sherry vinegar
Harissa (Moroccan chile paste), optional
Pomegranate molasses (optional)
Chopped mint
Pot-roast whole, peeled carrots with the brisket. Remove them when tender. Cut them on the diagonal into 1 ½ -inch pieces. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with ginger, cumin, raisins, pine nuts. Add oil, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Add a little chile paste or pomegranate molasses, if desired. Serve room temperature sprinkled with mint.
More recipes for brisket/pot roast:
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