This Braised Red Wine Brisket Is the Perfect December Meal

As we enter the middle of December chills, I encourage you to consider a brisket: And this red wine version braises into a gorgeous glaze with meat that is perfectly tender. It starts with the brisket itself. A whole brisket weighs about twelve to fifteen pounds, but is generally is divided into two pieces: the flat and the point. The flat has a texture more like corned beef (it is, in fact, what you make corned beef with), and the point tends to be fattier—but with fat comes the potential for silkiness once that fat melts. However, you likely don’t have to choose. Butchers routinely just cut the briskets into cross sections of five pounds or so, giving you a little flat, and a little point. That is the perfect amount for this recipe.  

on the left, the brisket before being separating into flat and point, and on the right, after being broken down and trimmed of all fat, which took off an entire pound of weight. Credit: Amanda Blum

You should be able to see a thick line of fat running through the middle of the meat; you’re going to cut the meat into two sections along that fat, then cut off most of the fat on both pieces. You only want to leave about ¼ of an inch of fat anywhere. If this intimidates you, ask the butcher to do it for you before you leave the store. 

Sear the brisket

At this point, it just needs some salt and pepper, liberally, all over; then you’re going to sear it with peanut oil in a large skillet on medium high-to-high heat. Because of the fat, you’ll notice it browns quickly, in thirty seconds or so. Keep turning the pieces of meat with tongs, so they are browned all over. Once that’s done, pull the meat out of the pan, and place it in a baking dish with deep sides. It should easily accommodate the meat, and the sides should come almost all the way up the height of the meat. 

To make the braising liquid, take two large carrots, three stalks of celery, one whole yellow onion, and two large cloves of garlic. Don’t worry about peeling them, just make sure you rinse them well. Then chuck everything into your food processor and pulse until everything is a uniform large chop. Turn the heat back on for the skillet, and sauté the chopped vegetables in the oil for eight to 10 minutes, moving things around often. 

you can just rough chop the vegetables or toss them into the food processor. They're just being used for taste, they won't be part of the final dish. On the right, you see the wine going in after the vegetables are all sauteed. Credit: Amanda Blum

Add the red wine

Dump in the entire bottle of red wine. An inexpensive Cabernet is the right choice here; I went with an old steady, Clos de Bois. The heat should be on medium at this point; use your wooden spoon to stir the vegetables and wine, trying to scrape up everything from the pan. Add in cherries, pomegranate seeds, herbs, honey, and beef stock, and stir to combine. Allow this to simmer long enough to reduce by a third. 

Now, pour it all over your meat. You’re hoping it covers two-thirds of the meat. If you have too much liquid, just set it aside; if you don’t have enough, you can add more stock. This pan it going to go into the lower third of your oven, on 450°F.  It will cook for about 3.5 hours, but you should check it every half hour, and add more water to the pan to keep the level about the same; turn the meat over each time. The easiest way to add water is to just fill up the wine bottle with water, and pour it into the pan. 

Get your veg all roasty

After two and a half hour—an hour before the brisket should be done—put the peeled cipollinis, red potatoes, and baby carrots into an oven-safe pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss well to ensure they’re all coated. Add this pan to the oven on another shelf or next to the brisket. 

At three and a half hours, pull both pans out of the oven. Remove the meat to a cutting board, and pour everything else in the pan through a sieve over a bowl. You can toss everything that it’s the sieve. 

Brisket with a bark

Cut the brisket on an angle, against the grain. You’ll see you have two distinctive textures of meat, that from the flat and the point. Both should have a spectacular lacquer or bark on them. Give everyone a little bit from both cuts. Add some of the roasted vegetables and spoon some of the sauce over everything with a sprinkle of flaky salt. 

Look at the difference between the flat (left) and point (right) in texture. You can see the bark on the meat as well, and how tender they both are. Credit: Amanda Blum

Red Wine, Cherry and Pomegranate Glazed Brisket Recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 pound cross cut of brisket, trimmed to ¼ of fat all around (should be 4 lbs. once trimmed)

• Salt and pepper

• 3 stalks celery

• 2 large carrots

• 1 medium yellow onion

• 2 large cloves garlic

• 3-4 few sprigs of thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon

• 1 pound cipollini onions

• 1 pound baby red potatoes

• 1 pound baby carrots

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• ¼ cup peanut oil

• 1 cup frozen cherries

• 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 cups beef stock

Credit: Amanda Blum

Directions:

1. If the brisket wasn’t trimmed at the store, do so now by separating the flat and the point cuts, and cutting through the fat layer. Trim off most of the fat so there is no more than ¼-inch of it anywhere. 

2. Salt and pepper the cuts liberally and then sear them in a skillet on high heat with the peanut oil. Turn them about every thirty seconds so they just brown on each side. 

3. Move the meat to a baking dish with high sides. 

4. Chop the celery, large carrots, yellow onion, and garlic by hand or in the food processor. Sauté the vegetables in the same pan with the oil you used for the brisket. Move the vegetables around so they all soften, for eight to 10 minutes. 

5. Add the entire bottle of red wine, and simmer while stirring with a wooden spoon to dislodge everything stuck to the skillet, and stir that into the red wine. Add the cherries, pomegranate seeds, herbs, and stock. Simmer until the liquid reduces by a third. 

6. Pour the mixture over the meat and put the baking dish onto a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Roast at 450°F for three and a half hours. 

7. After two and a half hours, take the cipollini onions, baby carrots, and red potatoes, and toss them with the olive oil, salt, and pepper in a roasting pan. Place in the oven next to or below the brisket.

8. Take both pans out of the oven when the full three and a half hours are up. Move the meat to a cutting board to rest. Pour the liquid in the pan through a sieve, reserving the liquid, but tossing the solids. 

9. Slice the meat thinly, at an angle, against the grain. Serve the brisket with the vegetables, and pour the sauce over them.

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