Kosher for Passover
Passover, the most theologically important holiday in the Jewish calendar, celebrates the renewal of spirit each spring. This holiday recollects and shares the most significant story in Jewish history – the escape of the Jewish slaves from Egypt over three thousand years ago.
A few years ago, a friend of mine invited me to her family’s annual Seder, and this piqued my interest about the holiday. The traditional Passover Seder dinner is full of symbolism and includes a ceremonial plate that incorporates six essential elements to tell the story of the escape. Some of those elements include bitter herbs and parsley dipped in saltwater to represent the bitterness and tears of slavery, a roasted bone that commemorates the mark made with lamb’s blood on the doorways of Jewish homes to spare their children of sacrifice, an egg representing renewal, and haroset--a sweet mixture of apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon, symbolizing the sweetness of freedom. Matzo, a flat unleavened bread is eaten to symbolize the hasty departure of the slaves.
Once the ritualistic appetizer is finished, Passover celebrants move on to the main meal.
The traditional Passover menu includes beef brisket, a savory cut of beef that has been long cooked and sliced thin. I recommend the following recipe for slow cooked beef brisket, and whether or not you are celebrating the holiday, I can suggest it as a delicious addition to your springtime repertoire. It’s a nice way to honor the holiday even if you are not bringing all of the symbolic elements together. With all of the preparations that go into this elaborate meal, the slow cooker is a natural to help ease preparations and serve a delicious brisket. You can also keep the brisket warm in the slow cooker until just before you are ready to serve, with minimal fussing or attending to it.
If possible, I recommend using the first cut brisket – it’s a leaner piece of meat.
Make sure you are using a large enough slow cooker to hold the meat, (ideally it should lay flat at the bottom of the pot) and remain completely covered with liquid. You can also cut the meat into two pieces so that it will be completely covered by the liquid. The vegetables you add are up to you, but can include carrots, celery, onions, and parsnips. The beef is cooked in a liquid mixture of tomatoes and red wine.
Once cooked the beef is removed and sliced. The remaining sauce and vegetables are pureed and poured back over the beef in the slow cooker. Then when you are ready to eat, you can warm the beef on low in the crockpot. It is best to slice the beef on the day you are serving it, so keep this in mind if you have prepared the beef the day before, you can return the meat to the pot with the pureed sauce, chill it, and slice just before re-warming.
If anyone can still move after the dinner, there is a fun search for the hidden matzo, or afikomen (meaning dessert). The evening ends with traditional songs of thanksgiving and praise.
It is said that spring can officially begin at the close of Passover dinner, and this is symbolic of both being liberated from the kitchen and the true meaning of the holiday.
Made with brisket of beef, black pepper, kosher salt, onions, olive oil, carrots, dry red wine, garlic, celery, plum tomatoes
Serves/Makes: 10
- 5 pounds brisket of beef, cut in half if necessary to fit in pot
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced (more if desired)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 can (28 ounce size) plum tomatoes with juice
Trim any remaining excess fat from brisket. Season both sides of brisket well with kosher salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brisket, and brown very well, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer beef to slow cooker.
Reduce heat to medium low, add remaining tablespoon olive oil, onions, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft.
Add red wine, and cook about 2 minutes, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Stir in carrots, celery, and tomatoes, and transfer to slow cooker, to cover beef.
Cover and cook on low until very tender, about 6-8 hours.
Let cool slightly, and remove brisket, being careful not to shred it.
Transfer sauce and vegetables from the slow cooker to a food processor, and process until very smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
If preparing the day before, return brisket to slow cooker, pour sauce over, and refrigerate.
If serving right away, return sauce to the slow cooker. Slice meat across the grain 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
If refrigerated overnight, remove brisket from the refrigerator, and slice across the grain. Add sliced meat to sauce, and reheat over low heat until warmed through, about 30 minutes.
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1 comments
Passover is not the most important holiday in the Jewish calendar. It is NOT a high holy day (like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, which are respectively the second and first most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, next to the weekly observance of Shabbat). It is a pilgrimage festival, like Sukkot and Shavuot. Then there are the third tier of holidays, called celebrations, like Tu b'Shevat, Simchat Torah, and Chanuka (amongst others).
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