Mustard Brisket

Next to some tri-tip I was picking up on sale was a 1 lb brisket.  You never find those, but it looked like it was the leftovers of the two other brisket cuts in the meat section.  $8/lb, but I got it anyway.

I considered roasting it with a jar of chutney, then decided that if I was going to be adding extra mustard to the mix, I might as well use a jar of fig mustard and a few extra dried figs for good measure.  I'm calling this recipe "mustard of choice", but I went for the sweet one.  You could use Dijon, spicy hot, whole grain, or any other mustard you happen to have on hand.  Even basic French's would probably work.

If you can't find a smaller piece of brisket, remember that all brisket cuts you find at the market come off of one long slab.  There is no reason you can't cut a 5-pounder in half or thirds and freeze the rest.  The tri-tip in the first sentence was cut in half for two very different uses and frozen until needed.  I wouldn't try to butcher an entire side of beef with a kitchen knife, but a boneless cut can be trimmed if you like the per-pound price.

1 lb brisket
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
*2 Tb mustard of choice
*1/2 C diced onion
1/2 C water
*2 Tb Marsala or red wine (optional)
*1/4 C chopped dried fruit (I used figs because of the fig mustard)

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a roasting pan with a double layer of foil.

2.  Place brisket, fat-side up, in pan and fold up the edges of the foil to make a little boat.  Sprinkle meat with garlic, then spoon on mustard.  Top with diced onion.  Fill the foil boat with the half cup of water.  Use a third piece of foil over the top, and crimp the edges to seal everything in.  Bake for 1 hour.

3.  Remove roast from oven and remove top piece of foil.  Hang onto it for a bit.  Once the roast is cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and slice thinly against the grain.  This is when you find out how much fat was on the roast.  Return slices to the roasting pan.  Top with dried fruit and Marsala, if using.  Seal it back up and roast at 300º for an additional hour.

4.  For a crispy look, remove foil top and roast an additional 10 minutes to reduce the sauce.  Otherwise, you're ready to serve.

Serves 3-4

Difficulty rating  π