Moroccan Brisket With Olives, Tomatoes, Onions, And Preserved Le

Total Time: 4 hrs 35 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 5 -6 lbs beef brisket
• 5 garlic cloves
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 large onions, diced (about 8 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 celery, diced
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups green moroccan olives, pitted
• 2 -3 preserved lemons, diced, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.
• 2 with a knife, pierce the skin of the brisket in 5 places and insert the garlic cloves. sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• 3 heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy skillet or roasting pan, add the meat, sear on all sides and remove.
• 4 add 2 more tablespoons of the oil to the same pan and saute 3/4 of the onions (about 6 cups) until they are limp.
• 5 add the turmeric, ginger, pepper, bay leaves, celery, 1/3 of the diced tomatoes, and water to the pan. stir-fry a minute or 2 and let cool.
• 6 place the brisket in a baking pan and surround with the cooked vegetables. roast, covered, in the oven for 3 hours or until a fork goes in and out of the meat easily.
• 7 remove, cool and refrigerate, reserving the vegetables.
• 8 you can prepare this a day ahead of time.
• 9 tomato-onion sauce:.
• 10 heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the frying pan; add the remaining onions and saute until onions are translucent.
• 11 then add the remaining diced tomatoes and simmer, covered, for a few minutes.
• 12 set aside or refrigerate overnight or until ready to serve the meat.
• 13 when ready to serve, remove any fat that accumulated on the brisket as it cooled.
• 14 cut, against the grain, into slices about 1/4-inch thick.
• 15 return the slices to the baking pan along with the reserved vegetables in which the meat was cooked.
• 16 preheat the oven to 350 degrees f and reheat the brisket, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• 17 add to the tomato-onion mixture, olives, preserved lemons and 2 tablespoons each of parsley and cilantro and heat in small saucepan. remove the brisket and some, or all, of the vegetables to a serving platter and serve, covered with the tomato-onion sauce and garnished with the remaining parsley and cilantro.
• 18 classic moroccan method for preserving lemons in salt:.
• 19 12 to 15 lemons
• 20 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 21 cut 7 of the lemons lengthwise, almost into quarters, leaving them intact at one end. you can also slice them thin.
• 22 using your fingers, stuff as much salt as possible inside the lemons, close them, and place in sterilized wide-mouth 2 quart jar. squeeze the juice of at least 4 lemons into the jar. allow to stand, half covered, at least 1 week on the counter, shaking the bottle each day, or until the peels sink with the weight of the salt in the jar. then add a few more salted lemons, lemon juice, and, if you like, olive oil to cover.
• 23 close the jar and leave out on the counter for at least 3 weeks before using. when using the lemons, merely rinse with water, remove the seeds, and chop up for your recipes. refrigerate after opening.
• 24 yield: 7 to 10 preserved lemons.