BRAISED BRISKET WITH CARROTS, GARLIC, AND PARSNIPS

Ingredients:

5lb beef brisket*

coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), plus more if needed

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced, plus 1 head halved horizontally

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

2 bay leaves

1 lb parsnips, peeled and halved

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into slices

2 1/2 cups red pearl onions, peeled

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Preheat oven to 325F.  Season both sides of the brisket with salt and pepper.  Place a roasting pan across 2 burners on medium-high.  Heat 3 tbsp oil in pan.  Add brisket; sear until browned, 4 to 5 mins per side.  Transfer to a plate.
  

• Reduce heat to medium.  Add onion and minced garlic to pan; cook, stirring often so the garlic doesn't burn, until onion is soft (approx. 4 mins).  Add more oil to the pan if needed.  Stir in tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute more.  Stir in wine, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
  

• Add stock and bay leaes and bring to a boil.  Add the brisket to the pan, and cover with foil  Transfer to the oven and roast until meat is very tender, approx. 2 hours.  Flip meat over.  Add head of garlic.  Cover, and roast for 30 mins. more.
  

• Add the remaining vegetables to brisket, cover, and roast until meat and vegetables are tender (approx. 1 hour more).  Transfer vegetables and garlic to a platter, and meat to a cutting board, reserving pan sauce.  Tent meat with foil; let rest.
  

• Let sauce stand in the roasting pan for 15 mins, then skim fat from the top.  Place pan across 2 burners over medium-high heat; cook until sauce is reduced by slightly more than half, approx. 20 mins.  (You should have about 2 cups of sauce).  Stir in vinegar.
  

• Thinly slice the brisket against the grain.  Arrange slices on a platter with the vegetables.  Season with pepper and drizzle with some sauce.  Serve immediately with remaining sauce.
  

*You can substitute brisket with any braising cut of pot roast.  Pot roasts are cooked using moist heat, meaning they are braised or simmered in liquid.  They are economical cuts from the chuck and brisket sections of the carcass (the front shoulder area of the animal).  Pot roasts are best cooked until fork-tender or well done.  Braising cuts include:  blade, cross rib, top blade, bottom blade boneless, brisket boneless and shoulder.

FLANK STEAK WITH YOGOURT CHIPOTLE SPREAD ~ Canadian Living

Serve with lightly grilled tortillas for a fajita style meal!

Ingredients:

1 lb beef flank steak

1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, and ground cumin

SAUCE

1 head of Ontario garlic, unpeeled

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1 tbsp finely minced chipotle pepper with juices

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp each grated lime zest and juice

1/4 tsp salt

Pinch ground cumin

• Sauce:  Cut 1/4 off top of garlic head; drizzle with oil and wrap in foil.  Roast in 350F oven until soft, about 1 hour.  Let cool.  Squeeze flesh into a small bowl.
  

• Stir in yogurt, cilantro, green onion, chipotle, paprika, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, salt and cumin until well combined.
  

• Sprinkle steak with salt, pepper and cumin.  Place on a greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until medium rare, 8 to 10 minutes.
  

• Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil; let stand for 10 minutes before thinly slicing across the grain.  Serve with yogurt sauce.
  

266 Ashworth Road  .  Zephyr, ON  .  L0E 1T0    905.830.4521    steve-lisacooper@coopersfarm.ca