Oven-Barbecued Brisket

Fall is here! I made this a couple of weeks ago for a friend who just had a baby. I used an 8 pound brisket so I was able to give the family a giant portion, eat some for dinner (tacos!), make a second meal (pasta!) and also freeze about 5 portions for meals later. If you can find a smaller brisket, definitely make this - just half the sauce. Then the leftovers will be a little more manageable. We are stockpiling leftovers around here though because we are expecting a baby in February! So, if our portions are looking a little larger on here, it's because of the leftovers and maybe a little bit because of my growing belly. This recipe came from my Gourmet Today cookbook. The sauce makes it a little sweet and keeps it really juicy. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Time: 6 hours
Serves: an army!

Ingredients

• 8 lb brisket, untrimmed (or a smaller one - just half the sauce)
• 2 TBSP salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 3 TBSP vegetable oil
• 2 large onions
• 1 14 oz. can of beef broth
• 1 14 oz. can of tomato sauce
• 2/3 cup of cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

Prep

1. Preheat your oven to 325° with the rack in the middle. Take out any racks on top since you'll need a lot of vertical space to fit the brisket.
2. Peel your onions and slice them pretty thinly.
3. Unwrap your brisket and pat it dry all over with paper towels. Then rub your 2 TBSP of salt and lots of pepper all over it.

4. Heat your 3 TBSP vegetable oil over medium-high heat in the biggest skillet you have. This was kind of a joke to me since my brisket was so giant but somehow it worked!
5. Add your brisket to the skillet and brown the first side for 4-5 minutes. Then turn it over and brown the other side. I had to shift this thing around a few times to get it all browned so just do your best here.

6. Once it's all browned, transfer it to your biggest roasting pan.
7. Then, in your skillet that's all crusty brown from your brisket, add your onions. You may need to turn the heat down at bit at this point. Cook the onions for 7-8 minutes.

8. Add your beef stock to the skillet to deglaze it which means you'll use a spoon to scrape all of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
9. Bring the broth and onions to a boil and add your can of tomato sauce, 2/3 cup cider vinegar, 2/3 cup of brown sugar and 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.

10. Pour your sauce on top of your brisket. Then, cover the meat with a sheet of parchment paper, then cover the pan tightly with foil.

Cook

1. Transfer your roasting pan to your preheated oven and cook for 2 1/2 hours. (if your brisket is smaller, cook it on the same temperature for 2 hours)
2. Take out the brisket and flip it over. (I had to get my husband to help with this!) Cook it for another 2 1/2 hours for a large brisket and just for another hour for a smaller one.
3. You'll know the brisket is done when you can stick a fork into the middle of it really easily. That's how you know it will be fall-apart tender.

4. Once it's done, transfer it to your biggest cutting board and slice it. I sliced the fat off the top first and threw that out and then sliced the rest.  While you slice, let the sauce cool in the roasting pan. 
5. Once your sauce has cooled a bit, use a spoon to skim the top layer of fat that's surfaced on it. Then portion out your brisket and cover each portion with sauce.
6. For tacos, I had a portion that I chopped/shredded, then covered in sauce in a small casserole. I covered the casserole with foil and kept it in a warm (200°) oven until we were ready to eat.