I was lucky enough to stumble upon a beautiful piece of grass-fed brisket at the food co-op where I do a lot of my grocery shopping and I conveniently had a ton of the tomato-chipotle sauce from this post left over. I thought it would make a great braising liquid for my brisket, and boy, was I right! The smokiness of the chipotle almost made up for the fact that I wasn’t able to actually smoke my brisket, Texas barbecue style. Spicy, smoky, with a hint of sweetness from the onions, plus delicious beefy flavor. Beefy goodness. I served the brisket with pan-fried yukon gold potatoes and a green salad.  The brisket I used was fairly small (only 4-5 pounds), but there is enough braising liquid in this recipe to deal with an even larger cut. Just make sure that your liquid comes about 3/4 up the sides of the meat – add a bit more stock or water if it doesn’t. If you use a larger cut, increase the ingredients for the dry rub proportionately.

Slices of Spicy Braised Brisket

Ingredients:

1 tablespoons fennel seeds, crushed roughly in a mortar-and-pestle (or use the back of a small, heavy saucepan to crush)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
3 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
One 4-5 pound brisket, trimmed of excess fat
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 1/2 cups tomato-chipotle sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Kosher salt

Procedure:

1. Rub the crushed fennel seeds, cumin, coriander, and black pepper evenly on the brisket. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours.
2. Remove the brisket from the fridge and let sit until it has reached room temperature, or at least 30 minutes. Generously salt the brisket.
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
4. In a large, heavy, ovenproof pot (no plastic handles), heat the oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the brisket and sear until brown on all sides, 7-8 minutes. Remove the meat to a plate.
5. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions. Cook and stir until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes.
6. Return the brisket to the pot and add the tomato-chipotle sauce, the stock or broth, and a pinch of salt. Bring the liquid to a boil.
7. Turn off the heat and transfer the brisket to the oven. Braise for 3-4 hours, turning the meat occasionally, and checking for doneness after 3 hours (this will depend on the size of your brisket). It should fall apart when prodded with a fork.
8. Slice the brisket and serve with the braising liquid alongside.