Brooks Beef Brisket and Gravy

By grammadot

Ingredients

• 1 5- to 6-pound beef brisket, trimmed
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, sliced
• 1 1/4 cups red wine
• 2 10 3/4-ounce cans beef stock
• 1 cup water
• 2 bay leaves, crushed
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with 4 tablespoons water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Trim excess fat from the brisket. Put brisket in a large, oven-safe Dutch oven. Add all ingredients except cornstarch mixture, and salt and pepper, making sure liquid just covers the meat. Add a little water, if needed, to ensure meat is covered. Cover Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat on stovetop. Put Dutch oven in preheated oven, and cook for 4 hours. Check for tenderness. If needed, cook 30 minutes more.
Gently remove brisket from Dutch oven to a serving platter. The meat may fall apart. Allow to rest while you make gravy.
Skim off any fat that has accumulated on the surface of the liquid from the brisket. Strain out the thyme stems and cloves. Use an immersion blender to puree the remaining vegetables in the pot. Strain gravy through a sieve into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat at a simmer, and reduce the volume of liquid by about half, about 15 minutes.
Keep liquid at a rolling simmer. Stir together the cornstarch and water, and stir slowly into the gravy. Stir well, and cook for 1 minute. Lower heat to medium-low, and continue to cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste; stirring well. The recipe can be made a day ahead up to this point.
To serve, slice the brisket against the grain of the meat into thin slices. Serve with a ladle of hot gravy