These cold wintery days always give me a craving for comfort food. Usually my inspiration for a recipe comes from ingredients that are seasonal or on-hand available, and this recipe is no different. Our local grocery store was having a sale on whole brisket so I thought, ” Let’s see what comfort food I could create using this it of meat.”

Unwrapping the whole brisket, my first challenge was the realization that this was a huge hunk of untrimmed meat. I wasn’t sure where to begin so I stared at it and decided to call on Paul to trim the brisket. He does such a good job cleaning our deer I figured the principles for the cow couldn’t be much different.

Here is what the piece of meat looked like….yours will be a lot like this if you choose to buy a whole brisket. If I was preparing this again I would buy an already trimmed one because so much fat came off. That was a lot of weight that I paid for to just throw away. I also think I might have trimmed a little too much off. Here’s a picture of the whole brisket. That top part is called the fat cap. It is usually at least 1/2″ thick and I removed most of the cap.

When Paul finished with the brisket we ended up with two pieces. The A or “flat” piece is used for corned beef, pastrami and meat-market trimmed brisket. The B or “point” is much thinner and the grain runs in a different direction. I saved it for a later recipe.

Paul and I went to New Orleans for the New Year in 2015 and enjoyed the most amazing Tuscan pork rib recipe prepared by our brother-in-law, Mike. That recipe was my inspiration for this brisket.

After the meat was trimmed, I combined all the ingredients below to make a dry rub. I then place the brisket in a zip lock bag for about 24 hours.

Debbie Michael: Tuscan Brisket

Ingredients

2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon(s) chopped rosemary leaves
1 1/2 tablespoon(s) kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoon(s) fennel seeds
2 teaspoon(s) freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon(s) chopped sage
2 teaspoons chopped thyme
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
Add the glaze of balsamic at the end
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, preferably one aged for at least 5 years

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
If you have a convection oven use that setting for approximately 20 min. You want the top to sear. You can also accomplish that task with a cast iron skillet.
Cover and lower heat to 325*. Cook for 2 hours.
At the very end, brush with the balsamic

https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/debbie-michael-tuscan-brisket/