148/365: National Brisket Day

You won’t have a beef with today’s holiday if you’re a carnivore. Sink your teeth into this: May 28 is National Brisket Day!

Brisket was once considered one of the poorer cuts of meat. It comes from the lower chest of a cow, and because these animals have no collarbones, is responsible for supporting 60% of the cow’s weight. This is why it contains a lot of connective tissue, and requires slow cooking over low heat for a long time in order to properly tenderize it. It contains a fat cap which can be cooked either face up or face down; debate rages over which is the better method. That argument can probably best be answered by Texans, who love their brisket and have made barbecuing it an art form. In Colonial America, brisket was usually coated in large salt crystals and allowed to age for four days. This method – known as corned beef – was the best way of preserving meat in the pre-Frididaire days. While corned beef is still popular – especially among Irish-Americans on St. Patrick’s Day, even though it’s not an Irish invention – brisket is also delicious cooked slowly over a grill, smoked, braised, or boiled. It can be covered in a spice rub or marinated.

I would have loved to have slow cooked the brisket over indirect heat for six hours or so, but since we had to work today, that would have meant dinner wouldn’t have been ready until midnight-ish – which is not only really late to eat, but also a potential disqualifier if it wasn’t ready by 12:00. We figured, if the meat requires slow and low cooking, it should work in a crockpot, right? So we turned to the internet for recipe ideas. This is where Pinterest came in handy. I found plenty of crockpot brisket recipes, and chose one with ingredients similar to those recommended by our friend, Wendy. It contained tomato sauce, beef bouillon, apple cider vinegar, onion, and garlic. I put that sucker in before work, and let it cook on low for ten hours. The result? Yummm-amazing! But a little salty. In any case, the recipe is definitely a keeper.

Related articles

• National Brisket Day (zacktalley.wordpress.com)
• Brisket braised in Madeira sauce with leftovers for a pasta dish the next day! (tastyadvice.wordpress.com)
• Eat: Crockpot Corned Beef Brisket (chpublishinghouse.wordpress.com)