Around the Shabbat Table (10 page)

PREHEAT
the oven to 300°F.

POUR
off all the remaining fat in the pan, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons fresh oil. Add about half the onions, salt and pepper them generously, and sauté over medium-high heat, lifting and tossing them occasionally, until they have greatly reduced in volume and turned light golden. Stir in the remaining onions. After all the onions have softened, stir less frequently so they can build up the lovely dark fond that helps them brown more quickly. When all the onions are burnished a rich gold, add 3
¹
⁄
₂
tablespoons vinegar. Increase the heat to high, and cook, scraping up all the caramelized brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, for 3 to 4 minutes, until all the liquid is evaporated.

PLACE
the brisket on the bed of onions, fat side up. Spread the remaining garlic paste over the top (fat side) of the brisket.

SPOON
about half of the onions all over the top and sides of the brisket, so that the meat is sandwiched between layers of onion. Cover tightly first with foil, then with the lid.

BRAISE
the brisket in the oven, basting with the pan juices and turning the meat every 30 minutes or so (be sure to recover the pan tightly), until the meat is fork tender, 3
¹
⁄
₂
to 4 hours. Let the meat rest in the pan sauce for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

WHEN
you are ready to serve the brisket, scrape off any congealed fat from the surface, if you have refrigerated the dish. Transfer the cold meat to a cutting board, and slice the meat thinly across the grain at a slight diagonal.

PREPARE
the gravy: strain the braising mixture, reserving the onion-garlic mixture. Skim and discard as much fat as possible from the liquid. Puree the defatted liquid, together with about half the reserved onion-garlic mixture and the remaining
¹
⁄
₂
tablespoon vinegar, in a food processor or blender. Transfer the pureed mixture to the cleaned pan. Add the remaining onion-garlic mixture and boil over high heat for about 5 minutes to concentrate the gravy and marry the flavors. Reduce the heat, add the meat, and reheat it slowly in the gravy until piping hot. Taste and adjust seasoning.

ARRANGE
the sliced brisket on a serving platter. Spoon some of the hot sauce all over the meat and pass the rest in a separate sauce boat.

COOK'S NOTE:
If you don't have a pan large enough, you can cut the brisket in two and sauté it in batches. (The meat will shrink as it cooks, so that you will be able to fit it in one layer later.) Or sear the meat under the broiler: cover the broiler pan with foil to minimize cleanup. Place brisket, fat-side up, under a preheated broiler, and broil for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. Move the meat around as needed, so that it sears evenly.

FLANKEN WITH TART GREENS

yield:
4 TO 5 SERVINGS

This dish is commonly translated as “boiled beef,” but it is actually beef long-simmered in water with aromatic vegetables. My grandmother's method uses a full-bodied beef or chicken broth instead as the cooking medium, along with plenty of earthy vegetables, producing succulent meat as well as a lusty-flavored soup. Though eight cups of broth may seem extravagant, in effect you are borrowing it and returning it deepened by the vibrant flavors of the meat and vegetables, as a husky soup that really sings, ready to be served at another meal. To garnish it, use the leftover flanken to make the
Mishmash Kreplach
. Or ladle the soup over egg noodles and sprinkle with lots of chopped fresh dill. Offered solo, the broth is wonderfully restorative on frosty days, and it makes a refined opener to a rich meat dinner.

Flanken is a bony Jewish cut of beef made by cutting short ribs across the bone. It is available in kosher butcher shops and from many nonkosher butchers in areas with large Jewish populations. If unavailable, you can substitute chuck short ribs.

Horseradish, the traditional accompaniment to flanken, can overpower the almost-sweet meat. I prefer broccoli rabe, whose gentle bitterness plays well against the richness of the beef. But I have both horseradish and mustard available for guests who insist.

4 pounds lean beef flanken

8 cups
Beef Stock
; chicken broth, preferably
homemade
, or good-quality, low-sodium
purchased

1 large onion, thickly sliced

3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 carrots, scraped and quartered

1 parsnip, peeled and quartered

1 parsley root, peeled (optional)

2 celery stalks, including leaves if available, quartered

1 bay leaf, preferably Turkish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE GREENS

1 pound broccoli rabe, cleaned, stems trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces, leaves and florets coarsely chopped, or an equal amount of trimmed, roughly chopped kale, mustard or turnip greens

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt

About 3 tablespoons broth from the flanken

Accompaniments: kosher sour dill pickles, coarse salt, grated horseradish, and sharp mustard (for traditional tastes, if desired)

PUT
the beef and stock in a 6-quart Dutch oven or wide heavy saucepan, partially cover, and bring to a bare simmer: the liquid shivering, occasional bubbles breaking gently and noiselessly on the surface. Don't allow the liquid to come to a boil; that will make the broth cloudy and the meat tough. Regulate the heat as necessary. Use a skimmer to remove as much foam and scum as possible as they rise to the surface.

AFTER
the flanken has simmered for about 30 minutes, add the onion, garlic, carrots, parsnip, parsley root, if using, celery, and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper, bearing in mind that if you started with a salted broth, it will get saltier as it cooks down. Place the lid slightly askew and continue cooking over very low heat for 2
¹
⁄
₂
to 3 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender. Let the flanken rest in the broth for about 15 minutes, then take it out and arrange it on a serving platter. Spoon a little of the broth over the meat to keep it moist. (If you need to reheat the flanken, simmer it in enough broth to cover.)

STRAIN
the soup, discarding or reserving the cooked vegetables according to preference (they will be quite soft; I usually discard all but the carrot and sometimes the parsnip and parsley root). Remove as much fat as possible from the broth by refrigerating it thoroughly until the fat solidifies, then just lifting it off. (You can deal with the soup at your leisure, of course, if you are in a hurry to get the flanken on the table.) Reserve 3 tablespoons of the broth for the greens.

ABOUT
30 minutes before you are ready to serve the flanken, prepare the greens: bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe or other greens, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not mushy, about 4 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

IN
a large heavy skillet, sauté the garlic in the oil over medium-low heat, stirring, for 1 minute, until pale golden (do
not
let it brown). Add cooked greens, raise the heat to medium, and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the reserved flanken broth, the pepper flakes, if using, and salt to taste, and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, lifting and tossing the greens, to meld the flavors.

SLICE
the flanken across the grain. Serve each guest a portion of broccoli rabe topped with slices of flanken. If desired, ladle a little hot broth over the meat to moisten it. Pass the pickles and coarse salt, and for the tradition-bound, horseradish and mustard.