Classic Braised Brisket

Ingredients:

• 1 beef brisket weighing 5.5 kg (piece with pointed and flat edges)
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3 medium sweet onions, cut into 8 pieces (about 700 g)
• 2 cups of white wine
• 4 cups chicken broth + more as needed
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 450 g peeled pearl onions
• 3 large leeks, halved lengthwise, washed and cut into 10cm long pieces (discard green tops)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 0.5 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
• 10 fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Pat the brisket dry and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Preheat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat on two burners. Add oil and heat. Cook, fat side down, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully flip and cook the other side until golden brown, 7-8 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a platter or baking sheet. Drain most of the fat from the Dutch oven, reserving 2 tablespoons.
3. Add the sweet onion to the roasting pan and cook, scraping the bottom, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by about a third, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, garlic cloves, and thyme. Place the brisket and any juices in the roasting pan, cover tightly with foil, and roast in the oven for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours, check to see if there's any liquid left in the pan. If not, add another 1 cup of chicken broth. Cover tightly with foil again and simmer for another 1.5 hours.
5. Place the pearl onions and leeks around the meat, cover again with foil, and cook until the meat is very tender, another 1 to 1.5 hours. Carefully transfer the meat to a platter.
6. Add honey to the roasting pan, set it on 2 burners over medium heat, and cook until the liquid has reduced by about a third, 6–10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. Use a spoon to skim off any visible oil from the surface of the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. At this point, the brisket can be served or refrigerated overnight (see below).
7. Combine parsley, mint, green onions, and shallots with vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Spoon some of the sauce from the roasting pan over the brisket. Slice the brisket thinly across the grain and arrange it on top of the sauce. Drizzle with more sauce from the roasting pan and sprinkle with the parsley mixture. Serve with the remaining sauce and onions on the side.
   
   
   A whole beef brisket (the cut includes both the flat and pointy portions) can weigh between 5.5 and 7.5 kg. For this recipe, we recommend using a smaller brisket so it will fit in the roasting pan.
9. If you prepare in advance:
   
   You can refrigerate the brisket overnight before serving. Remove the sweet onions, pearl onions, and leeks from the sauce and store them separately in the refrigerator. Once the brisket and sauce have cooled, the fat will set and be easy to skim off with a spoon.
   
   To peel pearl onions:
   
   Bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Trim the root ends of the pearl onions. Drop them into the boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Then immediately transfer them to the ice water and toss. Pinch the end of each onion to remove the skin.
10. Before serving, transfer the brisket to a cutting board to cool. Slice thinly and return to the sauce along with the onion mixture. Cover and reheat in the oven at 160°C for about 45 minutes.