The Farmer's Wife's Recipe: Crowd Pleasing Brisket

As promised in my last post, "Stretching Grass-Fed Meat Dollars: Roasts" , today I offer my Farmer's Wife's Recipe for "Crowd Pleasing Brisket", tweaked ever so slightly so as to make it more WAPF-friendly. I'm also sharing my source for most of my grass-fed beef, just in case you're a 'local-yocal'.

CROWD PLEASING BRISKET
Serves 10-12
Oven 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1- 4 to 4.5 lb. grass-fed beef brisket
2.5 Cups Organic Ketchup
      (Want soy-free, no-fructose? Try making your own-it's lacto-fermented for nutrient-density!)
3/4 C. prepared mustard (Read labels...no need for extra sugar, etc. in your mustard!)
1 C. Molasses (Okay...She says 'brown sugar', but molasses is better for us. If you feel you must have sugar, try the same amount of packed muscavado, full of trace minerals; or coconut sugar, which is good about not causing insulin fluctuations. Another really yummy alternative is honey, but neither the coconut sugar or honey will give the richer taste of molasses or muscavado.)
1/2 C. Water -filtered is best

Use a LIDDED ROASTING PAN

Coat the roasting pan with olive or peanut oil, or grass-fed lard or best of all, grass-fed beef tallow if you have it.
Place brisket in the pan.
Combine ketchup, mustard and molasses.  Put one cup of this mixture in a separate bowl and add the 1/2 C. water to it. Mix well and pour this sauce around the meat in the pan.
Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the meat. Be sure some stays on top of the meat. Put the roaster lid on securely.

Bake 3-3.5 hours or until meat is 'fork-tender'. (You can cut it with a fork.)

To serve, slice across grain and put plenty of sauce on top!

This dish may be made ahead and refrigerated to allow it to soak in the flavor of the sauce even more. I am a super fan of any portion of a meal that may be made ahead, so this aspect of the recipe really floats my boat!

I get most of my beef and pork from Windhaven Farm. Some I get from way out in Waverly at Providence Farm and occasionally, we buy from Full Quiver. They are all exceptional with Providence offering the added goodness of NO SOY in their feed and several other super-healthy techniques of raising their meat producers. We really love their chicken and how golden and rich the stock is I make from them. As we are still somewhat creatures of habit and convenience and the two combine to make Windhaven Farm our favored 'go-to' place for grass-fed beef and pork.

We have a few back-yard hens and they have been laying beautifully thus far through the winter! Senior Chief thinks we will be able to raise our own birds for meat in very small batches from spring through fall. If we can be more successful with our garden this year than we were last, these things should further help our healthy food dollars stretch. And you know I'm all in for that! And if we can do it...maybe you can, too.

So...go get your brisket, then enjoy this fantastic recipe. Your family will eat it up!