Carol’s Cooking Corner

Best Brisket You Ever Ate

Buy the largest brisket you can find, 7 or 8 pounds, or two smaller ones. Ask the butcher to trim as much fat off as possible (there will still be plenty).

Whole bottle chili sauce, Bennetts or Heinz

½ cup any good barbeque sauce

2 big splashes good red wine

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 fat cloves garlic, chopped

4 medium yellow onions, sliced; layer half on bottom of heavy roasting pan.

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Add some dried cranberries, if desired (I usually do). Make sure you have at least 3 cups liquid. If not, add some water.

Lay brisket on top of onions in pan. Put rest of onions on top. Pour sauce over and cover.

Bake at 500 F for 15 min. Turn oven down to 450 F, bake 15 min more. Turn oven to 400 F and bake for 30 minutes. Finally, turn oven down to 325 F and cook for 2 to 3 hours, basting often. You may have to add water along the way.

When cooled a little, take meat out of gravy, cool completely, refrigerate overnight along with gravy. The next day, remove fat from top of gravy. Slice brisket against grain, put back in gravy and heat for another hour until very, very tender. This is the most delicious brisket you will ever eat!

My Friend’s Hot Fruit Casserole

1 can each: peach halves, pear halves, mandarin oranges, pitted cherries, apricots. (I usually add prunes and grapes too)

2 cans lite cherry pie filling

Cherry Kijafa liqueur

Drain fruit in colander overnight. Arrange fruit in baking dish, add some pie filling, saving most for the top. Pour about 2 to 3 tablespoons Cherry Kiafa over all and bake at 300F to 325F for 1 hour.

Can serve cold or hot but be sure to bake first if serving cold.

Note: I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle of Cherry Kiafa just for 3 tablespoons, but we love this hot fruit so much that I make it pretty often. The Kiafa gets well-used!

Savta’s Red Cabbage

2 chopped onions

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or neutral oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

3 ½ pounds red cabbage, shredded

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup grape jam

1 fat clove garlic, minced

In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter or oil. Add garlic after a few minutes so it won’t burn. When onion is golden brown, add shredded cabbage to pan. Then add salt, brown sugar and chicken stock. Cook for 30 minutes.

Add a splash of red wine vinegar and a little water, if needed. Grate into it the Granny Smith apple and 1 tablespoon jam (You can use any kind if you don’t have grape).

Cook until apple turns the color of the cabbage. Add chicken stock as needed.

Serves 6 to 8.