Brisket Beef in Tomato Sauce

This is a variation of an old Jewish recipe for the preparation of Brisket. Normally it would have garlic, vinegar, and lots of pepper, but I made this for my mother, who generally doesn't eat food with lots of garlic and spices. So this is a stripped down version, which turns out to be just as delicious.

Brisket is a cheaper joint of beef. It takes a lot of cooking, but the results are well worth the effort.

Normally I would cook the joint in a slow cooker for between 4 and 8 hours, but I decided this time to experiment with cooking the dish on the hob, in a covered saute pan. I sealed the joint first of all in a flat lidded pan with some olive oil, and then transferred it to one which contained water brought to the boil.

I then cooked two large onions, and one large leek, both finely diced, also in some olive oil. Once they had browned a little, the vegetables were transferred to the pan with the joint. The lid was put on, and the heat turned down to the lowest level which kept the contents bubbling.

The joint was cooked for five hours at this low heat. The joint was turned several times to ensure even cooking. Then I added tinned chopped tomatoes to the pan, and stirred everything together. An hour later, I added the beef and vegetable stock.

Altogether the joint was cooked for eight hours, and then allowed to cool overnight. The next morning I washed the joint, and then cut the joint into tender slices with an electric knife. What wasn't needed for this meal was put into the fridge (the meat and the tomato sauce).

The beef was served with flat cut semi-skinned potato, sugar-snap peas, and some black pepper. Thanks to Lyn for talking me through this recipe many years ago. This is my 700th published recipe!