RECIPE: Beef Brisket in the Slow-Cooker

This is not a Quick Cooking recipe; it's one I've been making for years, therefore putting it into the tried and true category of dinner dishes that are well-nigh impossible to screw up.




For this dinner, I simply took a nice little brisket, threw it into the slow-cooker with some beef broth and some herbs and spices -- I like fennel, coriander and peppercorns, with about a half-clove of garlic -- and turned it on low heat and let 'er rip for about eight hours.

Traditionally, brisket is cooked the day before you plan to serve it, removed from whatever cooker you have used, covered and placed in the fridge until it's time to reheat for next day's dinner. It's supposed to taste better -- and it does -- and it also comes out ready to cut into the nice, firm slices you see in that photograph because it's had time to rest. Since I served mine only about four hours after I'd cooked it, it was still pretty "new" and it fell apart into tender, juicy chunks.

I included some carrot and potato chunks in the mix, but elected not to serve them at the last minute because the beef broth made them turn dark and they didn't have the look I wanted them to have (if I'd been home, I would have sneaked the potatoes under the lid when the meat had been cooking for around four hours.) The potatoes and carrots aren't a loss though: they'll be delish for tomorrow's lunch, mashed with some butter, salt and pepper. Yum.

I served this meal with fluffy white mashed potatoes and green beans. Kids and husband all fervently agreed that I should keep making this dinner, which is fine with me. It couldn't be any easier, and it's nice to make something that everyone will actually eat, instead of the crock-pot slop I've ruefully been serving over the past couple of weeks that Project: Dinner has been cooking along.

This meal was such a delightful success, I think I'll buy another brisket this week and slow-cook it in some homemade barbecue sauce, which makes a wonderful summery dinner with sliced tomatoes, corn (preferably on the cob, but we haven't reached that part of the summer yet. Or the tomato part, come to think of it) and strawberry shortcake or watermelon for dessert.