Braised Beet Brisket

When you can't slow smoke a brisket, braised is the next best thing! This is tonight's dinner:

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of bacon
• One onion, sliced
  
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 4 cups apple juice
• 1 small brisket, about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
  

Preparation and Procedure

1. Crisp the bacon, rendering the fat in a dutch oven
2. Remove bacon and fat
3. Add one tablespoon of fat back into the dutch oven
4. Over high heat brown both sides of the brisket, about 2-3 minutes each side. Add more bacon fat if needed
   
5. Remove the brisket and add in another tablespoon of bacon fat to the dutch oven
   
6. Add in onion and cook until softened
7. Add the garlic (Crushed)
8. Once the garlic is fragrant, add about 1 cup of apple juice and de-glaze the pan
9. Add the rest of the apple juice and the bay leaves
10. Bring to a boil, lower the temp and add the brisket and any juices that came out of the meat after browning. The liquid should just barely cover the brisket.
11. Simmer for 2-3 hours, turning the brisket every 30 minutes.
12. It's done when the meat is ready to fall apart when you lift it out of the liquid
13. Remove the brisket and cover to rest
14. Crank the heat back to high and add chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce by one quarter to one-half of the original liquid volume. Melt in two tablespoons of butter and serve as a pan sauce on the side. Note - if the volume is too much to reduce in 5-10 minutes, pour some off.
    

Just slice the brisket across the grain and serve with the pan sauce. Tonight's sides will include butter noodles and canned pear slices. But it pretty much goes well with any starch and veg or fruit. I went with canned peaches because my wife loves them -- with a little cream cheese. I was planning basamati rice, but I like cooking that with onion and I used my last one with the brisket. Added onion to the shopping list.