I am braising brisket right now. In fact, this is the third 5lb piece of beef brisket entering my kitchen over the last ten days. No doubt this is another fine example of me overdoing things that I like (see my last entry on holiday cookies). Brisket #1 was gladly devoured by me and my friends at my Winter Solstice Party. I had merely one small slice of leftover. When the house was cleaned and back to its normal state, the feeling at home was unanimous: we needed more brisket. So off to the market I went to procure Brisket #2.
The first two briskets were prepared using the same Braised Brisket & Onions recipe from Slow Cooker Revolution. It was savoury, beefy, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. We ate it plain, we ate it between slices of challah, and we dipped the brisket sandwich in bowls of jus like a French dip sandwich. It was marvellous.
I am not exaggerating when I say my house smells like brisket all the time. With the slow cooker working overtime at 9 to 11 hours for each piece of meat, it seems to me there’s always brisket cooking at home. Brisket #3 is on its merry way right now and it will be a smoky chipotle variation.
As hard as it is to imagine, I got a wee bit tired of another brisket dinner. I was sitting around not doing much yesterday and it suddenly occurred to me to top flatbread with brisket. You know, like brisket pizza. But let’s not call it pizza because…it’s not pizza. I started with Dan Lepard’s Light Whole Wheat Honey-Crust Flatbread dough made with rye flour and sunflower seeds. The dough came together in no time and was ready to use in under an hour. Despite the short fermentation, it had good flavour and I particularly love the unexpected crunch of the seeds. I topped each oval with shredded Monterey Jack cheese, torn pieces of lucinato kale, chunks of cooked brisket, and drizzles of braising jus. The kale crisped up during baking so it was like having kale chips on my flatbread. Brilliant! The beef and jus imparted good amount of richness (i.e. fattiness) for the flatbread to taste absolutely luxurious. I was hooked.
This leftover makeover is a fantastic way to stretch a small piece of brisket into a meal. It conveniently uses up many odds and ends in my fridge. My kitchen and I are both ready to look ahead to 2013 for another year of good eats!
