Forget Iron Chef: I Judged the Battle of the Briskets
A local New York temple had a "Battle of the Brisket" fund-raiser. Gail Simmons, one of the stars of Top Chef, and I were among the judges. We tasted 16 briskets, and though there was a certain sweet, beefy similarity to a few of them, there were enough distinctive entries to easily pick the three best. I must admit, I was really full when the judging was over. Brisket is not exactly a light, healthy food. After the jump, the recipe for the winner.
Cranberry Brisket
- serves 4 to 6 people
This recipe was submitted by Cathy Gins. I have not cooked it yet, but I would add a tablespoon of salt, although the onion-soup mix does have a fair amount of salt already. Also, you could substitute 2 sliced and sweated onions instead of the onion-soup mix.
Ingredients
3- to 5-pound beef brisket
Olive oil
4 to 5 garlic cloves
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 regular-sized package onion soup mix
1 can whole cranberries
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat brisket with a little oil and crushed garlic. Place in Dutch oven, cover, and bake for one hour. Remove brisket, drain fat (optional: slice brisket), and return to pot.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients, and pour over brisket. Return brisket to oven, and bake, covered, for about 2 hours or until tender.
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2 Comments:
My mother's been serving her brisket made with canned whole-berry cranberry sauce and onion soup mix for years and it's delicious, so it's great to see that this similar recipe was judged so highly. I love to cook with whole, fresh ingredients whenever I can, but sometimes the shortcuts just work so well!
Rickie Beth at 9:17PM on 04/23/07
I attended The New Shul event in the West Village and had a great time. The judges were amazing, the food divine. The Battle of the Brisekts was the best fundraiser I've ever attended!
KBG at 12:15AM on 04/24/07