Julia Child's Smothered Beef Brisket

Ingredients

• 1-2 garlic cloves, pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 4 lbs lean flat 2-inch-thick center-cut beef brisket, trimmed of most fat but leaving 1/8-inch layer on the fatty side
• 1 1/2 cups sliced onions
• 1 cup sliced carrot
• 2 cups fresh Italian plum tomatoes, cored and chopped

Directions

1. 1

   In a small bowl, mash the salt and thyme into the puréed garlic with the flat side of a large kitchen knife.

2. 2

   Beat the oil and pepper into the garlic mixture and spread this mixture over both sides of the brisket.

3. 3

   Toss the vegetables in a large bowl with a little salt and thyme.

4. 4

   Spread half of the vegetable mixture in the bottom of a roasting pan.

5. 5

   Place beef, fat side up, on top of the vegetables.

6. 6

   Cover with the remaining vegetables.

7. 7

   Cover the pan tightly with foil.

8. 8

   (This dish may be prepared to this point in advance and refrigerated.).

9. 9

   When ready to cook, cook--basting with pan juices every 1/2 hour--in a 300° oven 3-4 hours until a fork goes into the meat easily; by the end of cooking, the meat will have shrunk.

10. 10

    **** If you are not serving the meat until the next day, transfer the meat with its vegetables to a smaller pot; degrease the juices and pour them over the brisket and chill, uncovered, until cooled; then cover and keep in the refrigerator up to 2 days. To reheat, put this dish in a 350° oven for 20 minutes, basting 2-3 times with its juices. ****.

11. 11

    Remove the beef with its vegetable topping to a cutting board.

12. 12

    Pour the juices into a saucepan, degrease, and rapidly boil down almost to a syrup.

13. 13

    If you wish, you can thicken the juice into a sauce with 1-1/2 Tbs cornstarch blended with 2 Tbs of either wine or stock.

14. 14

    Carve the meat across the grain into thin slanting slices.

15. 15

    Accompany each serving of meat with 1-2 spoonfuls sauce and vegetables.