Cold Day Off and Braised Brisket with Grilled Vegetables

Frost and snow look beautiful when you can stay in.

Today in Minnesota was a rare day when things actually shut down for the weather; with wind-chill it felt like -44ºF when we got up today.  Schools were called off by the governor, many businesses were closed, and Sous Chef and I got to sleep in.

We decided to start the day off with a Sunday breakfast on a Monday.  We made, then ate, our gluten-free doughnuts and bacon while watching episodes of Iron Chef America on Amazon Prime.  Some kids know sports stats; Sous Chef knows Chef stats.  She can tell you what type of food the chefs are good at, what foods they have made in competitions, and the scores they have received.  She will recount great culinary feats like they were the winning plays in the Superbowl.

Besides watching cooking shows, I took time today to make a long cooking dinner.  I had gotten a brisket this weekend when I went grocery shopping before the storm (or in this case cold).  If you have never been to a grocery store in the Midwest before a predicted snow storm or insane cold-snap it is quite the experience.  It is kind of like squirrels scurrying around gathering nuts before the winter hits.  People are going every which way, inexperienced shoppers are out, eyes glazed over like a deer in headlights blocking the aisles. We are all worried that we may not be able to get to the store for weeks so we stock up so we can hibernate until it gets a little less subarctic.  We still wait patiently in line talking about how bad the storm is supposed to be, and comparing it to storms of the past.  If there is one thing a Minnesotan likes to talk about it is the weather.

I had my brisket, some vegetables, a new grill pan, and a day off.  (I have no idea how I lived without a grill pan until now). Brisket is a slow-and-low kind of cooking meat, so a freezing day off was perfect to create a new recipe for it.  I decided to keep the seasonings simple and used kosher salt, pepper, and paprika and let the veggies be the star flavorings in the dish.  I let the seasoned brisket chill in the fridge for a few hours, then took it out a half hour before cooking it to let it come to room temperature.

I chopped my veggies into large pieces, since they were going to be both grilled and then braised for a long time.  Too small of pieces would have ended up with just mush.  By keeping the pieces large they were able to withstand the cooking process and turn out both tender and flavorful.

Grill Marks!

I had saved the bacon grease from this morning, so I used that to grease my pan.  Vegetable or Olive oil would have worked fine, but the bacon fat gave it a nice flavor.  I grilled the veggies in batches and let them get some nice grill marks on them, rotating a few times before removing to a plate.

I wanted to eat these then, but I saved them for the roast.

After the veggies were done, I put my braising pan on heat, added a bit of bacon fat and browned the brisket.  I browned the fat-side down first and let some of the fat render out.  I always want to keep checking the meat, but I resisted the urge and let it sit for about four minutes before peeking.

Let the meat brown, don't keep checking it.

 It was nicely browned after about five minutes, then I browned the other side.  Draining the fat is optional, but there is no need to keep it in the pan.

All of the vegetables got added into the pan, along with a quart (that's 4 cups) of beef stock, a sachet of thyme and parsley (fresh herbs tied together in cheese cloth) and a bit of salt and pepper.

I love the bright pop of color in this.

                         
I covered the dish and let it cook at 325º for 3 1/2 hours.  I checked it at about 2 1/2 and stirred around the vegetables.  This wasn't necessary, but like browning the meat I really wanted to check it.

There wasn't a lot of braising liquid left to really make a pan sauce after, since it had all nicely caramelized the vegetables.  I could have added wine to make a real pan sauce, but simply added a few tablespoons of butter, after I removed the meat and veggies, to deglaze the pan.  I shook in a bit of Worcestershire sauce and let it start to bubble.  I strained this and used it as a butter sauce to dribble over the top of the meat.

Brisket, nice and tender

My favorite thing about this dish was the different textures and flavors that were in it. The carrots really popped with sweetness, while the potatoes were still sturdy.

The veggies, really the star of this dish

 It was a hit on this cold day, which we finished off watching one last episode of Iron Chef America while eating Mint Chocolate Mousse.  We get another day off for the cold tomorrow.  We haven't decided what we are cooking yet.