The holidays are coming up, and brisket is on my mind. My mother-in-law makes it on special occasions, and I have always wanted to give it a try. This recipe sounded like a great way to start since it’s pretty much impossible to ruin a slow-cooker recipe. That and the slow-cooker is just so damn convenient. So here goes brisket…
If you ask me about comfort food, I will answer promptly: slow-cooked brisket. This old-fashioned pot roast, cooked quietly in the slow cooker all day with just a handful of ingredients and a mess of caramelized onions, makes a rich broth and meat that melts in your mouth. Sunday dinner, weeknight supper — whenever you eat it, this is a classic dish both convenient and comforting.
The Ingredients
I realized when I was shopping that I have never seen a raw brisket, so I had to hunt for it in the meat counter. Now I know–it’s a giant hunk of meat! This brisket was close to 4 pounds and cost me about $30. I had a little bit of sticker shock, but it turned out to be a good deal. I got 6 generous servings out of this piece.
I thought 1 1/2 pounds of onions sounded like a lot, but I was wrong. I bought 1 red and 1 yellow (Vidalia and Bermuda, respectively), and the Vidalia alone was 1.6 pounds!! I used half of it and the whole red onion and still went a little over the 1 1/2 pounds listed in the recipe.
The Process
The directions for this recipe were clear and easy to follow. That’s always reassuring when I’m making something for the first time! The prep work was really just peeling and slicing the onions, and that took me about 4 minutes.
I put the onions on the stove and stirred them occasionally for 20 minutes. While they were cooking, I prepped the brisket, heated a second skillet, and seared the brisket. I had the brisket, onions, and the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker in 27 minutes.
I opted to cook it for the full 8 hours. The total time on this recipe was 8 hours 47 minutes. The result was a brisket that literally fell apart and a gravy that was just sumptuous.
