November 6 – November 12, 2023

Tuesday:                              Linguine with Stewed Tomato Sauce

Monday:                              Shepherd’s Salad

Wednesday:                      Pork Chops with Apples and Sauerkraut

Thursday:                            Dinner at the PFC

Friday:                                 

Saturday:                             Pizza – Half Margherita, Half Black Olives and Anchovies

Sunday:                                Brisket with Carrots and Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Green Salad

Risk It – Cook a Brisket

I was speculating on how brisket became a staple of Jewish holiday cooking.  My thinking went like this:  Most Jewish immigrants were dirt poor – I mean literally dirt poor – farmers from the shtetls of Eastern Europe who were pushed to the poorest land, were subject to pogroms, had no political power or rights and, having somehow made it to New York, began their lives as Americans living in slums, suffering the thousand humiliations that poverty, not speaking like a native and dressing poorly engender in any society and, on top of this, having trouble putting food on the table.  (There’s not much call for peasant farmers in Manhattan.)  That these people have gifted America with so many actors, doctors, scientists, comedians, songwriters, musicians, novelists, financiers and industrialists is astonishing.  It’s also a typical American story – talk to your Italian, Irish, Polish, etc. neighbors.  And they have also gifted us with their cooking among whose staples is the wonderful, lowly brisket.

Why brisket?  The following prices (per pound of meat / Weiss Meats / 11-14-23) tells the story:

Waygu Strip Steak           $28.00  

Tenderloin                            16.99

Rib Eye                                   11.59  

Porterhouse Steak              9.89

Flank Steak                             8.99

Whole Chicken                      7.99

Brisket                                      5.99

Chicken Thighs bone-in     1.39

Pork Butt                                 1.99

So, brisket is not quite the cheapest meat.  But pork was out and while chicken was probably cooked more often and made into delicious soups extended with matzah balls, root vegetables and noodles,  on special occasions, brisket was served.  But brisket is inexpensive for a reason – it’s a tough cut of meat with lots of fat and connective tissue.  So, these immigrants made the cooking an all-day (well, half-day) affair, adding a savory sauce and garlic and onions and carrots and whatever else was to hand and not costly.  And they developed a recipe that Ina Garten,* who cooks in a nifty kitchen/studio she has constructed on the grounds of her multi-million dollar estate in the Hamptons,  has translated for all of us and that you really must try, the next time you’re going to be home-bound for the roughly 4 ½ hours it takes to cook.

*Ina is probably another gift of the Ashkenazi, I would guess, though I have not confirmed that.

By the way, I was wrong about the origins of brisket cooking.  Ashkenazi Jews from what used to be called Mitteleuropa have been cooking brisket for special occasions since the 17^th century – think Newton, the Mayflower, Galileo.  So, among other things, such as knocking your family down with an absolutely delicious meal, you’ll be carrying on a long and wonderful tradition by cooking the recipe below.  Rick, Billy, and Beez can testify to the absolute gob-smacking, yes-I’ll-have-seconds power of this dish.

Note:  Is it a coincidence that we cooked brisket at a time when Israel (and America) is at war in the Middle East, after the horrors of October 7^th, and around the world (and in America) there is a surge of anti-Semitism?  Well, yes and no.  Yes, to the extent that I had been toying with the notion of cooking brisket – which I have eaten and crave – for some time, though daunted by the process.  But also, no. I have no way to really affect events, but perhaps cooking brisket, making fun of progressive college students and politicians and getting pissed off at the nightly news which shows footage shot by Hamas-approved cameramen, looking like outtakes from ER, without mentioning the provenance, will make an infinitesimal difference.  If we can do that while bringing you a smile and helping you feed your family and get to know ours a bit, we’ll be happy.

BRISKET WITH CARROTS AND ONIONS

(adapted from Ina Garten)

Note:  The basic idea of cooking brisket is to braise it, slowly,

in a flavorful sauce with root vegetables, garlic and what-have-you.

Ina uses tomato juice, straight from the can, for this sauce.

Our friend and wonderful cook, Hilda, suggests V-8.

Timing:                                                                 About 4 1/2 hours

Ingredients:                                                       Feeds 10 – 12

6-7 lbs. beef brisket

1 lb. carrots, peeled, cut into 2-inch chunks

8 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch chunks

6 yellow onions (medium to small), peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

6 bay leaves

1 (46-ounce) tomato juice

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons oregano leaves

Prep:

I like to remove as much of the hard and soft fat from the brisket as possible.  You will never remove it all – but give it a shot.

Cut up the carrots, celery and onion and mince the garlic.

In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano.

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Cook:

Place the brisket in a heavy roasting pan.  Rub the garlic and spice mixture into the brisket.

Pile the carrots, celery, onions, and bay leaves on the brisket and pour in enough tomato juice to come about ¾ of the way up the meat.

Now, cover the pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper and then with aluminum foil.  THIS IS IMPORTANT:  You don’t want the tomato juice to contact the aluminum foil or it will develop a strange taste.

Put into the oven and bake for 3 ½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Remove from the oven and remove the meat from the pan and tent on a cutting board.

Place the roasting pan over one or two burners and boil the vegetables and sauce over medium for 30 minutes – it should thicken a bit.

Serve:

Slice the meat across the grain, serve with the vegetables.  Mashed potatoes are the perfect complement to this dish.