| The Brisket Book | Andrews McMeel, 2011 | Serves 10 to 12
Culinary expert and food historian Nach Waxman, who seems to have the world’s most Googled best brisket recipe, grew up in a tradition of brisket on New York’s Lower East Side. When his mother made brisket, he was an ardent observer. “That’s how I learned about cooking. From watching,” says Waxman, who is also the founder of Manhattan’s Kitchen Arts & Letters. From his father’s side, descendants of Romania, he learned to prefer a savory brisket to a sweet one.
Nach’s brisket recipe is an amalgam of his mother’s and his mother-in-law’s, and a tribute to both of them. “The key element from my mother-in-law was interim slicing. She had this brilliant notion of what would be good—by cutting the meat and putting it back in the pot, you’ve created more surface area for browning. Interim slicing let’s every piece be exposed to heat and juices and allows the flavor to penetrate the entire brisket. I find that the typical brisket has a beautiful exterior—but inside the meat is gray. By slicing the brisket halfway through the cooking time [Editor's Note: As pictured above, hence the medium rare look!] and reassembling, every piece essentially gets to be an outside piece. The slices are beautiful, the meat is much firmer and less likely to ether fall apart or shred.”
The other distinctive feature of Nach’s brisket recipe, and this comes from his mother, is that no water is added. All the liquid comes from the meat and the onions.
This is a man who knows his brisket. The robustly browned slices look like a chorus line of lovely Rockettes, one leaning into the other in perfectly gorgeous symmetry.–Stephanie Pierson
LC Boozing it Up With Brisket Note: Author Stephanie Pierson asked Scott Pactor, owner of Manhattan’s Applelation Wine & Spirits, what he’d choose to complement Waxman’s unforgettable brisket. He suggested something with black pepper and red fruit. He specifically mentioned an Austrian wine, the ’08 Schreiner Blaufrankisch Burgenland. No objections here.
Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 4 hours, 10 minutes.
Nach Waxman’s Best Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
- One 6-pound first-cut beef brisket, trimmed so that a thin layer of fat remains
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons corn or other mild vegetable oil
- 8 medium onions, peeled and thickly sliced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- Kosher salt
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- 1 carrot, peeled and trimmed
Directions
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1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Have ready a large ovenproof enameled cast-iron pot or other heavy pot that has a lid and is large enough to just barely contain the brisket snugly.
2. Lightly dust the brisket with flour, then sprinkle it with pepper. Heat the oil in the pot over medium-high heat. Add the brisket to the pot and cookon both sides until crusty and browned areas appear on the surface here and there, 5 to 7 minutes per side
3. Transfer the brisket to a platter. Turn up the heat under the pot a bit, then add the onions and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Cook until the onions have softened and developed a rich brown color but aren’t yet caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and place the brisket on top of the onions. Pour any juices that accumulated on the platter over the brisket. Spread the tomato paste over the brisket as if you were icing a cake. Sprinkle the brisket with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and carrot to the pot. Cover the pot, transfer it to the oven, and let it cook, untouched, for 1 1⁄2 hours.
5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife, thinly slice the meat across the grain into approximately 1⁄8-inch-thick slices. Return the slices to the pot, overlapping them at an angle so that you can see a bit of the top edge of each slice. The end result should resemble the original unsliced brisket leaning slightly backward. If absolutely necessary, add 2 to 3 teaspoons of water to the pot.
6. Cover the pot and return it to the oven. Lower the heat to 325°F (163°C) and cook until the brisket is fork-tender, about 2 hours more. Check once or twice during cooking to make sure that the liquid hasn’t bubbled away. If it has, add a few more teaspoons of water—but no more. Also, each time you check, spoon some of the liquid on top of the roast so that it drips down between the slices.
7. It’s ready to serve right away with its juices, but, in fact, it’s even better the second day. (You can let the brisket cool, cover it loosely with foil, and refrigerate it overnight to serve the day after. Skim any fat from the surface of the liquid and reheat the brisket, covered, in an oven turned to 325°F (163°C) for about an hour.)
- Stewed Beef Brisket in Chu Hou Sauce from Christine’s Recipes
- Corned Beef from Food and Fire
- Chipotle Maple Barbecue Beef Brisket from Leite’s Culinaria
- Beef Braised in Barolo from Leite’s Culinaria
Nach Waxman’s best brisket recipe © 2011 Stephanie Pierson. Photo © 2011 Roger Sherman. All rights reserved.
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[Karen Depp] This has to be one of the best recipes that I have tested. Easy, right to the point, basic cooking methods and a normal cut of beef all combine for a really outstanding taste treat. The flavors are fully developed, and each one compliments the others. It is comfort food — and yes, “soul food” as well. It is the chicken soup for the beef lovers amongst us.
[Sofia Reino] What an easy brisket to make, and it’s filled with flavor and tenderness. The brisket fell apart once fully cooked, and I understand why you cutt it prior to the end of its cooking time. This way, we were able to serve it as slices, not all shredded. We served it with plain mashed potatoes, and I would fully suggest that. The sauce with the onions make this meal pretty filling and heavy, so the mashed potatoes help soak up its juices. This is definitely a hearty meal, perfect for a weekend lunch, then a nice, long nap.
[Lori W.] I had never made a brisket before, but always thought of it as a dry, tough cut of beef — this recipe proved me wrong. I do not own a cast-iron pot with lid or any pot with a lid that can go in the oven, so I had to switch from a pot on the stove to a casserole dish that I covered tightly with aluminum foil for the oven, and it still worked great. The entire process was unlike any other meat I have fixed — from icing it with the tomato paste to cutting the meat before it was done cooking — but it worked great. I never had to add liquid, and the meat came out so moist and tender. I make pork barbecue a lot, and I made the sauce I use for that to have on the side. With or without the sauce, the meat was a hit.
[S. Kim] This recipe does a lot with very few ingredients. Hands-on cooking time is very minimal, and it’s amazing that it calls for no added liquid yet does not dry out. I would choose the size of brisket that best fits your pot — mine fit snug and that kept the brisket well submerged under the liquids created from cooking. My only suggested improvements would be the addition of herbs, such as thyme, and to puree the remaining sauce, to give the juices more of a sauce-like consistency. Make sure to slice thinly in step five; it really makes a noticeable difference. This holds up very well to reheating.
This sounds delicious and I can taste each and every one of those exposed pieces.
It’s incredible how many ways there are to make brisket. My family has been making a sweet and sour brisket for years and the method is so unconventional. Everyone that tries it asks for the recipe, but if people asked me for a recipe and I told them how it was made they’d turn their nose up.
Brisket is either fantastic or lousy. I can’t wait to try this version. I just hope my family won’t be upset with me when I set it on the table.
Yup, it is truly incredibly how many ways folks make brisket. And no matter what, it seems many folks’ favorite is whatever they grew up with…so here’s hoping your family gives Nach’s version a warm reception. We’ll be waiting to hear…
As the author of The Brisket Book, where Nach’s recipe is now appearing – I should say “starring” – I am thrilled that all of the discerning brisket makers on this blog are so happy with the results. It is simple and smart and incredibly delicious. I will pass on the kind words to Nach, who will blush!
Thank you, Stephanie, for your integral role in getting Nach to divulge his simple, smart, and incredibly delicious recipe!
Hi Renee – you are so welcome! And Nach is (much like brisket) a warm and lovely guy, happy to share. I have found that the brisket community is wonderful about sharing recipes, advice, family secrets…
Here is our family recipe for brisket. Do not be put off by the ingredients – it is fabulous.
Brisket Recipe
Saute 2 medium onions, chopped, and 5 or 6 cloves of finely chopped garlic until soft. Add about ½ cup ketchup, 1 cup water, salt and pepper and pour in bottom of covered roasting pan. Place brisket (3 to 4 lbs – first cut preferred as it’s less fatty than point cut) in pan and sprinkle 1 package Lipton’s onion soup mix on top, drizzle with a little more ketchup, cover tightly and bake at 350 ° for about 1 ½ hours. Remove from oven (don’t turn it off, you’re not done yet!) Scrape topping off the brisket into the gravy, remove brisket, let it cool a bit and slice (against the grain). Return sliced meat to roasting pan, making sure the gravy gets in between the slices and covers the meat – add a little more water if necessary. Cover pan and bake another 1 – 1 ½ hours, or until fork tender. You can make this in advance and freeze in those disposable foil roasting pans. When you reheat it, the flavors blend even better than when freshly made. Is fabulous.
Appreciate you sharing a family heirloom, Donald…
Hmmm…sounds delicious and sounds like a lovely amalgam of a few different family favorites. I’m getting hungry!
Exactly our thoughts when we read the recipe, Stephanie. Look forward to hearing from you after you make it…