Adapted from Chef Jim Cohen, Chef/Partner, The Empire Restaurant, Louisville, Colorado, and Pizzeria da Lupo, Boulder, Colorado
This showstopper was created by Jim Cohen, who has both updated and upended tradition. Black tea? Pasilla chiles? Sweet fruit? Use ancho chiles if you can't find pasillas.
Ingredients
Serves 8
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Soak the chiles in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Seed them, remove the stems, chop the flesh into tiny pieces, and set aside.
Step 2
Season the brisket with salt and pepper to taste and dredge with flour. Heat the oil in a heavy roasting pan just large enough to hold the brisket snugly and brown the brisket on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
Step 3
In the same pan, over medium heat, add the onions and ginger and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are transparent. Add the reserved chiles and deglaze with the orange juice. Reduce the liquid by half. Add the brisket and enough stock or water to cover the meat. Add the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Place in the oven and cook, uncovered, until the brisket is tender, about 3 hours, turning at 30-minute intervals.
Step 4
Transfer the brisket to a platter. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf from the liquid and pour it into a food processor or blender. Purée until smooth. If the sauce is too thin or not flavorful enough, reduce in a pan over medium heat. Cool the meat and the sauce separately, then cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
Step 5
When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. In a large bowl, steep the tea bags in the water to make a strong tea. Discard the bags. Put the prunes and apricots in the tea to plump for about 30 minutes, then drain them. Meanwhile, slice the brisket against the grain and place the slices in a pan. Remove the congealed fat and pour the sauce over the brisket. Add the fruit to the sauce, cover the pan with aluminum foil, and heat the brisket in the oven until hot, about 45 minutes. Check the seasonings before serving.
Leave a Review
Reviews (8)
Back to TopI made this several years ago and am going to make it again. Super delicious and as noted below, works out great even without the flour. Make Passover delicious again. : )
joanneg919
Lafayette, CO
3/26/2017
Go ahead and make it for passover! Just skip the flour. No biggie. I'm a Jew and GF, that is what I'm doing.
joanneg919
Lafayette, CO
4/26/2014
This recipe looks delicious, and I will make it today. Those of you who have been so offended it is not a Passover dish, where does it say it is?
KlausTheStoic
Florida
3/16/2014
This is delicious, but the sauce reduces too much in the oven. Has anyone tried covering it part way through?
Anonymous
Toronto
6/16/2013
This is a very good recipe! If you note that the issue this recipe came out in was the December 2011 issue, it seems to indicate that this was meant more as a Chanukkah recipe and not as a Passover recipe... It really is not that much of a hardship to leave-out the flour to make this Passover friendly.
eric7150
Northern California
4/13/2013
oy vey-stop the kvelling-just don't use the flour and you'r home free
Anonymous
boston
3/20/2013
This is definitely not a PASSOVER recipe. No flour is used in Passover cooking. I am surprised that Epicurious is ignorant of this fact!
Anonymous
LOS ANGELES, CA.
4/3/2012
Sounds great but this is not a Passover recipe. One does not use flour on Passover.
Avaeliana
Salt Lake city
4/3/2012
