Tender Braised Beef Brisket – western style

This recipe is inspired by the flavorful and tender braised beef short rib we had at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS (~4 servings):

• ~1kg/3lbs of beef brisket
• 1 x 398 mL can of canned whole tomato
• 450mL beef with red wine broth
  (or you can use 225m mL beef broth + 225mL inexpensive dry red wine)
• 1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp avocado oil or any high heat oil.
• additional salt to taste.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 275F/135C.
2. Slice beef brisket into approximately 2 inch thick x 1 inch wide pieces. Don’t worry about the length, we can cut this when its done.
3. Heat oil over non-stick fry pan over medium high heat.*
4. When pan is hot, place beef brisket pieces on it. Sear all sides.
5. Remove beef brisket from pan. Set aside.
6. Add sliced onions to the pan. Sauté onions until it softens, “sweats” and turns slightly pale brown.
7. Deglaze the pan with red wine beef broth.
8. Add canned whole tomatoes, soy sauce, dry thyme and salt. Bring to a boil.
   You can break them into smaller chunks while cooking.
9. Transfer this mixture to a roasting tray. Place the beef brisket into this mixture.
10. Cover tray with aluminum foil.
11. Bake in the center of the preheated 274F/135C oven for 3 – 4 hours.
    *After 2 hours, spoon over some of the mixture over the brisket pieces to avoid drying out.
    *Repeat Step 11 every 30 minutes until its done.
12. You know it is done when you can use a small fork to cut through the meat without effort. This means the meat has broken down.
13. Remove from oven. Let it cool.
14. Transfer the gravy into a sauce pan over medium high heat. Reduce until desired consistency. Add salt to taste.
15. Ready to serve.

* This is the fool-proof method. If you familiar with and confident using an oven-safe stainless steel pan that is large enough for this recipe, you can use it in place of the non-stick pan + roasting pan for the whole recipe like I did.

**the reason I added minimal salt at first is because the gravy will be reduced later, and if you add too much salt upfront it may be too salty.