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Recipe for truly succulent, traditional Jewish brisket?

roxie110 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:01:41 -0800

How do you make truly tender, succulent Jewish-style brisket? I've had a craving for brisket-like-my-grandmother-used-to-make for about a year now. I finally got the meat and my mother's recipe and cooked it today. The taste is great and the thin end of the meat turned out close to what I was hoping for; the thick end is cooked through but not moist and falling apart like brisket in my world should be, and when I stick a fork in it gives a lot of resistance. I don't know if I over- or undercooked it. I should mention that my "dutch oven" (really a stockpot) was too narrow so I used a Calphalon deep covered 13" nonstick skillet instead--maybe a big mistake? I am such a brisket novice.

Below is a quick recap of how I cooked it. I've looked up a ton of recipes but each one is slightly different, and life's too short to try every one. My question is this: who has a foolproof (mostly) recipe for truly tender, traditional Jewish brisket!? And just as important, how do you know how long to cook it and when it's done? (Can you overcook a brisket, as long as there's still liquid in the pan?)

Recipe I used for half a first-cut brisket, about 3 pounds, fat trimmed:
Preheat oven to 350. Place thickly sliced onions, carrots, and a couple chopped garlic cloves in bottom of Dutch oven. Rub ketchup, ground pepper, paprika, and one envelope onion soup mix on all surfaces of brisket. Add liquid to 3/4 inches deep (I used 1.5 cans low-sodium beef broth; most of liquid was absorbed by the end of cooking). Place chunks of potato around meat. Cover tightly and roast for 2.5 hours. Baste two or three times during cooking. Remove from heat, cool meat, and slice across the grain.

Help! And thank you!

Dealing with breast tenderness?

meerkatty — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:56:27 -0800

Dealing with breast tenderness? Oh dear god for the past few months I have had painfully tender breasts just after ovulation and until my period arrives. I've spoken to my doctor who advises that, as I suspected, it's due to big hormonal fluctuations and my age (early 30s). He recommended lowering my fat and salt intake as well as eliminating as much caffeine and alcohol as possible. No problem.

Have you found that anything else has worked for you? Fabulous naturopathic remedies? Supplements? Other dietary or exercise changes? My breasts thanks you in advance.

Give my steak some flavor

timelord — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:29:25 -0800

How do you jazz up a tender (but bland) steak? I recently got a good deal on some New York (cut) steak. After grilling a few (seasoned w/ salt + pepper), I'm less impressed w/ the flavor than I am w/ the texture. I understand that the tender cuts tend to be the bland ones, but I'd like to do something w/ this steak.

What would you recommend? I find that simpler is usually better w/ steak, but I'm open to all suggestions (marinades, seasonings, etc).

Creative summer & side jobs

koenie — Sun, 22 May 2005 19:48:30 -0800

Summer is coming. I'm a student. I'd like to earn me some dosh in as pleasant a way as possible. Additionally, since I'm already sitting behind a darn desk for the whole friggin' year, I think it's time for a change. No coding. No system administration. No data entry. No QA. I think you catch my drift. One possible option I've been considering is that of becoming a lifeguard. Training only takes a month. Sun. Water. Money. It can hardly get any better in my humble opinion. Do you have any additional suggestions? By the way, don't limit yourself to summer jobs.