I make this recipe at least a few times every year and everyone always loves it. The brisket takes almost half a day to cook, but don’t get put off by that, all you’re doing for most of that time is flipping the brisket, and in the end you’ll have an impressive, elegant dinner. One great thing about this recipe is the leftovers! I always make a big enough piece of brisket to have enough leftovers for sandwiches, salads, and we even shred some for tacos.
This is my traditional, never fail brisket recipe, but you can get as creative as you want with this dish. One of my wife’s favorite versions is made by adding diced jalapeños and about a half cup of cilantro in the pot before cooking the brisket.
Cooks Note: If you have time to make the brisket a day ahead of serving it, you can refrigerate the sliced brisket with the juices overnight to make all of the fat collect on the top. The next afternoon you can remove all of the fat with a spoon and reheat the juices and brisket over very low heat for about an hour.
Makes About 8 – 10 Servings
1 Four to Five Pound Beef Brisket
1 Tablespoon Hungarian Paprika
1 Teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 and ½ Cups Shallots, Chopped
5 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
- In a large pot with deep sides over medium – high heat, brown the four to five pound beef brisket for about 2 – 3 minutes per side, or until the brisket has lightly browned
- Remove the brisket form the pot, turn the heat off, and allow the pot to cool
- Place the brisket on a large cutting board of plate and rub into each side of the brisket:
- ½ Tablespoon Hungarian paprika
- ½ Teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
- ½ Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Rub the spice mixture into each side of the brisket
- Add to the large pot that the brisket was browned in:
- 1 and ½ Cups shallots, chopped
- 5 Garlic cloves, chopped
- Place the brisket, fatty side down, over the shallots and garlic and cover the pot (make sure it is tightly covered, if there are gaps between the lid and the pot wrap the top of the pot with aluminum foil)
- Turn the heat on the stove to the lowest setting possible and cook the brisket for at least 5 hours
- Once the brisket has reached your desired tenderness, remove it from the pot and place it on a large cutting board or plate and using a serrated knife carefully remove the layer of fat on one side of the brisket and discard, you can also use a fork to scrape off any remaining fat and cut the brisket into about 1 and ½ inch slices and return it to the pot, there should now be enough juices in the pot to fully cover the sliced brisket
- You can either serve the brisket at this point or continue to cook the sliced brisket in it’s juices for an additional 2 – 3 hours or until the brisket is so tender it’s almost falling apart
- Serve the brisket covered with a few spoonfuls of the juices and shallots with your choice of side (I love mashed potatoes because you can use the juice to make a nice gravy) and enjoy!
