Sweet and Sour Brisket

I love contrast.  I love how you can take two things that really should be polar opposites of each other, put them together, and the end result is fantastic.  I especially love contrast when it comes to food.  I'm one of Those People who love sweet and salty together, hot and cold, soft and crunchy... all in one nice little package.  I think contrasting tastes and textures in food keeps things interesting.  I know not everyone is on board with me on this one but that's ok.  I've long-ago accepted that I'm just weird sometimes.

If you couldn't tell by my previous posts, I've been playing a lot with Ellie Krieger's new cookbook, which was a birthday present (THANK YOU Mom and Dad!!!).  I've been finding soooo many good recipes in it  that I was inspired to go back to her first cookbook, which is also one of my favorites.  This recipe caught my eye for two reasons: 1) sweet and sour.  Hello contrasting flavors!  And 2) the star ingredient is brisket, which I've been dying to try making one for some time now.  Alright, let's make this dish!!

And so begins my quest for a brisket.  You'd think that in The Dairy State that a beef brisket would be easy to find, right?  WRONG!  At grocery store #3 I finally found what I was looking for.  Any grocery store people reading this?  Take note: stock brisket please!!

Couldn't ask for a more perfect day to cook all afternoon

 So I get home with this gorgeous piece of meat and start on my recipe.  Oh. My. GOODNESS.  This is an easy cut to work with AND this recipe ROCKS.

Sweet & Sour Brisket
Recipe from The Food You Crave


One 3lb beef brisket
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp canola oil, divided
1 medium onion, thinly sliced into half moons
3 cloves garlic, minced
One 15oz can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup, plus 1 tbsp, apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup raisins
5 black peppercorns
1 allspice berry [Note: I did not have this so I just sprinkled in some ground allspice]

1. Preheat oven to 300.

Yeah, a smidge more salt and pepper than called for

2. Pat brisket dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. [I should interject that though I wrote down the above measurements, I did not measure as I seasoned the meat.  I've found that when you're cooking meat like this, don't be shy about seasoning; so I don't like to be limited by adhering to measurements.]  Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or braising pot.  Sear the brisket until it is browned, 4-5 minutes per side.  Transfer the brisket to a plate.

Mmmmm, garlic...

3.  Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the pot and cook the onion, stirring a few times, until softened, 3-5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.  Add the tomato sauce, broth, brown sugar, 1/3 cup vinegar, raisins, peppercorns, and allspice and stir to combine well.  Bring the mixture to a boil, return the brisket (fat side UP) and any accumulated juices to the pot.  Spoon some of the tomato mixture over the brisket, cover tightly, and transfer to oven.  Cook until the brisket is fork tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Hello Gorgeous

4.  Remove the brisket from the oven and transfer meat to a cutting board (if it falls apart on you while getting it out that's ok).  Let rest for 10-20 minutes.  If you're serving this later, cover and refrigerate meat and sauce for several hours or overnight.  When you're ready to serve, cut the meat against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.  Stir remaining tbsp vinegar into the warm sauce.  Return the sliced brisket to the sauce until heated through, then serve.


 Reading through the instructions, I thought this might be a little complicated but really it's not.  It came down to browning meat, cooking sauce, returning meat to sauce to bake, then take meat out to cut, put slices back into sauce.  Easy, right?  And oh my goodness the FLAVOR!!  This one definitely hit home in my love fore contrasting flavors.  It's a lightly sweet, thick sauce with this glorious tang to it that just has my saliva glands falling to their knees and saying "THANK YOU!!"  Super yummy.  Honestly easy to put together. If you like contrasting flavors like I do, try this one.

The lovely brisket is paired with some white bread and maple-glazed carrots.