My Grandma's Brisket Recipe

My Grandpa and Grandma (Joe and Frieda Rosen)

This is a recipe that does take up your day so be sure to plan well. My grandma used to make this brisket but she only used water. My sister and I use Broth. I personally like to throw in a cup of red wine but that would change the name to Sharon's Brisket Recipe and here I am giving my grandma's.

My grandma's name was Frieda Rosen. She was awesome. She was kind and taught me some very good life lessons. One in particular that I will never forget was when I was 16 and asked if she could buy my class ring for me. She said no. NO! I was shocked. I couldn't believe it! Knowing I was quite spoiled and expected everything in life to be handed to me, my grandma told me that the only way I was going to get that ring was if I bought it myself. She told me she absolutely didn't believe I could do it. So there it was. If I wanted a ring like all of my friends I actually had to pay for it myself. So I saved a portion of my paycheck from my part-time job at Baskin-Robbins for a couple of months and was able to order the least expensive ring they had. BUT I DID IT! And I did it all by myself. It was the first time I ever actually earned something totally on my own. It really changed me. I know it may sound silly but after that I started to really be a lot more responsible. One year later I upgraded that stupid ring just because I could. My grandma never forgot she did that for me either because she brought it up on the phone every now and then. She even told Dave about that lesson learned when she was out for my wedding. She said to me several times that although I was a brat as a child, she was very proud of how I turned out as an adult. She was right about the brat part. :) My grandma passed on about 5 years ago and I swear to you that there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her.

My Grandma's Brisket Recipe (Courtesy of Jennifer Rosen & Mary Scotti)

Ingredients:
4-5 lb beef brisket
3 tablespoons Crisco (original recipe uses Nyafat (vegetable fat) which is very hard to find)
1 lg onion (minced)
Salt and Pepper
Good Hungarian Paprika (about 1/4 cup)
Half and Half of enough water and Beef Broth or Stock to cover meat (about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts)

In dutch oven or large pot, place oil in pot, melt down on medium heat, add minced onions and saute until translucent, add brisket, brown on both sides, season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste (the more the better) then cover brisket with water, cover and simmer for about 5 hours or until fork tender. Towards the end of simmering, last 40 minutes or so, tilt the lid a bit. This will make the juices simmer down and become thicker. When cooking is complete, slice on the bias and serve on a platter pouring the remaining juices over the meat.