I finally got a chance to use my crock pot that my sister got me for my birthday in August. I usually use Dutch ovens, but today I couldn’t be home to watch it. So it was the perfect reason to break in the slow cooker! There’s something SO comforting about anything slow cooked.. Brisket, short ribs, pork shoulder, arroz con pollo..
I’m loving brisket these days as we’ve just started our winter menu at work and brisket has been very popular. I usually buy brisket from Costco as it’s pretty affordable and good quality. But this time I was at trader joes so I bought a piece that was about 3lbs. It had some fat for flavor but didn’t require any trimming. As it was my first time using the crock pot, I had to play with times a bit. We had it with some creamy polenta, but you could have it with crispy bread, rice or potato purée. Here’s my recipe, hope you enjoy!
Serves 5 to 6
Ingredients
-3lbs brisket
-1 large yellow onion
-5-6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms
-2 cups chopped cremini mushrooms
-3-4 sprigs thyme
-1 sprig rosemary
-1/2 cup whole garlic cloves
-3 bay leaves
-3-5 cups beef stock
-salt and pepper
Directions
Roughly chop the onions and layer on the bottom of the crockpot. Remove and discard the stems of the shiitake mushrooms and roughly chop. Chop the cremini mushrooms as well. Add the shiitake to the onions. Cut several slits into the brisket and put whole peeled garlic cloves in. Add to the crockpot fat side up. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Arrange the cremini mushrooms, bay leaves and extra whole garlic cloves around the meat. If possible, bundle the thyme and rosemary with butchers twine. Otherwise tuck around the meat. I didn’t bother and it was just fine. It’ll be easy to pull out the stems. Finish with enough beef stock to just cover the meat. Cook on low for 7.5 hours.
The meat is done when it will shred easily with two forks. Once done, remove the meat to a baking dish. Shred with two forks and cover with a ladle of liquid to keep it moist. Lightly cover with foil.
Remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs from the broth. Also remove any bay leaves you can find. Skim as much fat as you can. You can use the sauce just as it is, but we quite like thicker gravy. Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. If you’d like it thicker, mix a couple tablespoons of corn starch and water in a small bowl. Add some of the puréed sauce to a pot and add a couple teaspoons of the corn starch mixture. Simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Plate your polenta or rice, top with shredded brisket and finish with the gravy. Top with some chopped parsley of you have it and enjoy!
Notes:
You don’t necessarily have to cover the meat with stock. You will have quite a bit of sauce/liquid left. The main reason I did was because I wouldn’t have time to turn the meat over. This way it was fully emerged and couldn’t dry out.
Leftover sauce would be a great soup. Add a bit of cream and more stock.
Leftover meat could be used over pasta or with a sandwich or quesadilla.
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