Braised Brisket and Roots

Oh man. This recipe....so good. That's all I can say. It came from Eating Well in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook by Jessie Price and the Editors of Eating Well. It was published in 2009. This meal took a long time to cook, but it was super quick to prepare! It was full of flavor and I will probably make this many more times. It was under the winter recipes part of the book, but that didn't stop me!

All of the ingredients! Fresh vegetables, herbs and a beautiful brisket.

Slice the onions! They go in as soon as the meat has browned, so I wanted to have them prepared.

I also measured out the wine that I needed to add!

Preheat the oven to 325. Heat some oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add your brisket and cook until it is browned. It's about three to five minutes on each side.

Look at that beautiful brown color!

While the second side was browning on the brisket, I prepared the spices I needed to add. All-spice, bay leaves, salt and pepper and fresh thyme! Paprika is also on the list, but I ran out!

Once you have browned the meat for three to five minutes on both sides, remove from the pot and place it to the side until you are ready for it again.

Place the sliced onions into the pot, stirring frequently until they are softened. It takes about two minutes.

 After the onions have softened, add the spices to the pot! Stir.

Add in the wine! Bring it to a boil and cook for about three minutes.

Add the beef broth to the pot.

Return the brisket to the pot along with any juices it's plate may have accumulated. Cover and place in the pre-heated oven for one and a half hours.

While the brisket is in the oven, you can prepare your root vegetables. First up: parsnips! Peel and core the parsnips and then cut into sticks. I did not particularly care for the smell of the parsnips, but the flavor was oh so yummy.

Next came the rutabaga. This was such a task for me to cut! A rutabaga is usually coated in wax. That was easy... cutting it was the difficult part! My "sticks" were uneven, but it was okay! The smell was similar to that of horseradish, but not as strong and the taste wasn't even close!

Lastly...the carrots! Easy to cut into sticks. I had to use an extra carrot because I kept eating them.

I also measured out my dijon mustard I needed!

After the hour and a half is up, remove the pot from the oven and take the brisket out. Also remove the bay leaves! I only found one, so another was still in during the second half of cooking. Whoops.

Add the cut up vegetables to the pot. I mixed it around with the sauce and soft onions.

Put the brisket back into the pot and put it back into the oven for one more hour.

After the hour has passed, remove the pot from the oven. Remove the brisket and vegetables from the pot, reserving the sauce. I covered it with foil and placed it back into the oven to keep it warm!

Skim the fat (if any) from the top of the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat. Cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the cornstarch into the some water in a separate container and mix it into the sauce. Stir constantly until thickened! Shouldn't take longer than twenty or so seconds.

Mmmm... the smell is intoxicating!

Slice the meat. It is sooooo tender and juicy! It basically fell apart as soon as we touched it.

Take a few slices, top with the vegetables and sauce and enjoy! :)

Nutrition facts: (using the exact ingredients the recipe calls for)
-385 Calories
-11g Fat (3g Saturated Fat, 5g Mono)
-78mg Cholesterol
-22g Carbohydrates
-5g Fiber
-41g Protein
-279mg Sodium
-850mg Potassium

Nutrition Bonus:
-Vitamin A: 110% Daily Value
-Zinc: 64% Daily Value
-Selenium: 57% Daily Value
-Vitamin C: 35% Daily Value
-Iron: 25% Daily Value
-Potassium: 21% Daily Value

A serving is:
-3 ounces of meat
-1 cup vegetables
-1/4 cup sauce

Recipe ingredients!
-1 tablespoon canola oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
-2 pounds flat, first-cut brisket, trimmed
-3 medium onions, sliced
-6 allspice berries or a pinch of ground allspice
-2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried (I used fresh and added a little extra)
-1 teaspoon sweet paprika (my meal did not include this because I ran out)
-1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Kosher)
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I used about three turns of the grinder)
-2 bay leaves
-1 cup fry vermouth or dry white wine (I used wine)
-3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth (I used regular, not reduced)
-4 medium carrots, peeled
-3 medium parsnips, peeled and cored
-1 medium rutabaga (about 3/4 pound), peeled
-1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
-2 teaspoons arrowroot or 1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1-2 tablespoons water

<3
J