Dad's Brisket

While Norman is a professional chef, my dad is a talented amateur.  His recipes tend to involve a lot of garlic and a lot of wine - so much so that, as a 19-year-old living on my own and having to cook for myself for the first time, I had a real problem - all of my recipes required alcohol, which I was too young to buy.  I was probably the only undergrad begging her friends to buy red wine so she could make chicken cacciatore!

None of his recipes are simple. But they all come out wonderfully, and his brisket is no exception.

Ingredients:

1 brisket
Red wine
garlic, cut
coffee (instant. Or already made.)
small can of crushed tomato
pepper
cut onions
cut carrots
Browned flour (put the flour in a pan and cook gently as you stir it until it turns brown.)

1.Cut off what fat you can. Pepper the brisket.  Brown it in the aluminum plan you plan to cook it in - maybe put a little salt on the bottom of the pan first.

2. Pour the ingredients - except the flour - over it, mixed to taste.  I used half a bulb of garlic, half a large onion and half a bottle of wine for a 5 pound brisket.  I skipped the coffee because I forgot it.

3. Cook at 250 degrees until tender when you poke a fork in it - about 5 to 6 hours (I cooked it with Norman's at 325 for 4.5 hours.)

4. Remove meat from sauce, cool, and slice against the grain.

5. Strain out the veggies, then use a fat separator to pour the good sauce out from under the fat.

6. Store the meat in the sauce, and reheat in the sauce.

7. When you're ready to make the gravy, blend the veggies and sauce in a blender.  Mix the browned flour in a bit of cold water and pour it in as a thickener.