Carnitas-Style Slow Cooker Brisket
Andrea Potischman
Nov 3, 2017
This carnitas-style slow cooker brisket is divine. I think brisket is always delicious and there are many ways to make it, but this is special. I have a bunch of recipes for brisket that I love and use often, but this time I wanted to try something a bit different, and boy, did I find a good one. This lovely recipe is not mine: it is from Feed Me Phoebe, a great gluten-free food blog I like. I have adapted the recipe only slightly, but the original recipe be seen here.
Despite only a few simple ingredients, this brisket is rich, flavorful, and satisfying either straight-up, as I served it here, or shredded and used as a taco filling. I liked this brisket recipe so much, that I made it for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, back in September. And at my potato-loving son’s request, we had it with latkes, proving how versatile this recipe can be.
Cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, cinnamon and garlic make up a dynamic carnitas-style seasoning that just works. The addition of hard cider not only helps tenderize this cut of beef but also adds earthiness and a slight sweetness.
Brisket, for those that don’t know, is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of either beef or veal; it is one of the nine “primal cuts” of beef. Because of the structural make-up of the brisket itself, which contains a lot of connective tissue, tenderizing and cooking a brisket is absolutely essential. This is where a lot of home cooks make mistakes, and I have done so many times myself. With this in mind, long, slow cook times help, and so does something acidic, like hard cider.
Hard cider is a fermented apple juice, which is lightly effervescent, tart, yeasty and dry. Hard cider is a great tenderizer in this recipe, and a bit different from what you typically see. If you are unfamiliar with hard cider, be sure to try some before cooking all of it; it rather good. One of my favorite simple cocktails is actually a Snakebite, which is hard cider mixed with a good lager beer–absolutely delicious. Mission Trail makes a great hand crafted hard cider that I like, but there are numerous brands out there so no need to use this one, feel free to experiment. This is a great dinner option for a cold weekend night and for groups big and small.
Carnitas-Style Slow Cooker Brisket
Ingredients:
- One (3-pound) brisket
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
- One (12-ounce) bottle of hard cider
- One (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Directions:
- If needed, lightly trim some of the fat on the brisket. Cut the brisket into 3-inch cubes.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and when hot, but not smoking, add the brisket and sear to get some nice coloration for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and place the seared brisket into a slow cooker fat side up.
- Sprinkle the spice mixture onto the seared brisket inside the slow cooker. Add the cinnamon stick, hard cider, crushed tomatoes and garlic. Cover and cook on low for about 7-8 hours.
- Once the brisket is cooked, remove the meat from the slow cooker and place on a large plate. You can leave as is or if using for taco filling, use a fork, gently shred the beef. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Place the cooking liquid into a kitchen mixer such as a Cuisinart fitted with a metal attachment. Blend on high for about 1 minute till pureed. Pour tomato-broth mixture over the brisket and serve as is or as a taco filling.
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