6am Slow Cooker Rosh Hashana Brisket

By Laura Ferguson 9/19/2009

This year I had to work on the day before Rosh Hashana. At 8pm the night before, I bought my ingredients, so I started this in the slow cooker the next morning. This is a great recipe, because once it is going you can (almost) forget about it until dinner time. The cumin adds a wonderful aroma that will envelope your guests as they enter. This recipe makes 4 servings.

2lbs beef brisket (trim excess fat)
2T of Olive Oil
1 large sliced sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups (leftover) red wine (a merlot will work well)

Spice mixture
1T Cumin
1T Cinnamon
1T Garlic
1T Paprika
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
2tsp kosher salt (to taste)
1tsp cracked pepper (to taste)
1tsp red pepper flakes

Tzimmes mixture
1 parsnip, cubed
1 turnip, cubed
10 baby carrots or 1 cup carrot rounds
10 dried prunes
1/2 cup dried apples
2 rings of pineapple (optional)

Sauce
1 qt vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 cup honey
2T brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Spray a large flat bottom sauce pan with pam, add the olive oil, and heat up the pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and saute them gently until translucent. Remove half the onions or push them to the side. Turn up the heat to high. Add the brisket and brown on both sides. Remove the brisket and the onions to the slow cooker, add the wine to the pan to deglaze it. Then pour the wine into the slow cooker. Sprinkle the brisket on both sides with the spice mixture (you can do this in the slow cooker the spices will mix in anyway). Add the fruit and vegetables in around the brisket. Add the vegetable stock, honey, sugar and vinegar. Give the fruit a little stir to cover it with the wine mixture. Cover and cook for 8 hours. Check the flavor after about 6 hours and adjust it if needed. Serve the fruit as a side dish for the brisket.