Sephardic Brisket

Sephardic cooking makes heavy use of dried fruits, an influence of the Arab world. This brisket is both spicy and sweet.

• 2 dried pasilla chilies
• 1 4-pound brisket
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Flour for dredging
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup orange juice
• 4 cups chicken or beef stock or water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 3 tea bags of strong black tea
• 2 cups dried pitted prunes
• 2 cups dried apricots

METHOD

Soak the pepper in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Seed, remove the stems, and chop into tiny pieces. Sprinkle brisket with salt and pepper, rubbing both into the meat with your hands. Dredge in flour. Heat the olive oil until very hot, but not smoking, in large, ovenproof frying pan or roast pan. Brown the brisket on both sides. Remove from pan.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the same pan, over medium heat, sauté onions and ginger until the onions are translucent. Add pepper and deglaze with orange juice, scraping up any bits of meat that stick to the bottom. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes to reduce sauce. Put in brisket and enough stock or water to cover. Put in cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Cook, uncovered, until the brisket is tender, about 3 hours, turning at 30-minute intervals.

Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Puree sauce in a food processor or blender. Cool and refrigerate a few hours or overnight to let fat congeal at top of the sauce. Remove fat.

About 30 minutes before serving steep teabags in 3 cups water to make a strong tea. Discard tea bags. Put prunes and apricots in tea to plump for about 20 minutes. Drain and add to brisket sauce. Reheat brisket to serve.

Serves: 4 - 6

Recipe from www.inmamaskitchen.com

Contributor: Elinoar Moore

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