At some point, brisket (or roast) became a Rosh Hashanah tradition, and who am I to skimp on tradition?

This roast is soft and sweet, with fruity undertones from the wine and dried fruit. I like to serve it with a fairly plain side—like rice, or quinoa—with some of the sauce from the meat poured over.


You’ll need to chop up an assortment of dried fruit. I used cranberries, dates and prunes.


You’ll also need sweet red wine, apricot preserves, fresh garlic, soy sauce and onions.


Saute the onions for about 20 minutes, until slightly soft and translucent. Transfer the onions into a bowl and use the same pan to sear the meat.


Do not wash the frying pan in between—the onion “drippings” will impart extra flavor to your meat.

Rub the raw roast with a garlic clove on all sides. Heat pan and sear roast on all sides until brown.


Cover the bottom of a baking dish with the onions, and place the roast on top.


Combine all the other ingredients—the dried fruits, wine, apricot preserves and soy sauce and pour over the roast. Sprinkle the cloves of garlic all around.


Cover and bake for 2-3 hours on 350. The length of time will depend on the shape of your roast. Mine was small, but very thick, so it took the full three hours.

I like to remove the string about two thirds of the way through the cooking, but you can wait till the end of you prefer.


When you remove the roast from the oven, let it rest before cutting. This is crucial. If you cut it immediately, the juices will come pouring out and you’ll end up with dry meat. By waiting, you allow the juices to cool and settle back into the meat, which gives you a much tastier roast.

When the roast has cooled, cut it against the grain in nice thin slices (mine were a bit too thick). Put the slices back into the liquid and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Reheat in the oven, or on the stovetop, in the sauce.

Does meat intimidate you? Don’t let it! This recipe is virtually fool-proof and will have your guests raving. (Not raving and ranting. Just raving.)


Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2.5 lb. roast or brisket
  • 1.5 cups sweet red wine
  • ½ cup apricot preserves
  • 3 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1.5 cups assorted dried fruit, chopped ( I used prunes, dates, cranberries)
  • 8 garlic cloves

Directions:

  1. Cut the onion in half-rounds, and sauté on a low flame with the olive oil and salt for 20-30 minutes.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 350.
  3. Place the onions into the baking dish you’ll be using to cook the roast.
  4. In the same frying pan you used for the onions, sear the roast on all sides.
  5. Place roast on top of the onions. Pour all the pan drippings in as well.
  6. Pour the wine, soy sauce, apricot preserves, garlic and dried fruit over the meat.
  7. Cover with foil and bake for 2-3 hours (depending on the thickness of your meat). Every 30-40 minutes, pull the pan out and baste the roast with the sauce.
  8. Halfway through the cooking, take the pan out, remove the roast from the twine, turn the roast so that both sides can soak up the sauce, and return it to the oven.
  9. When the roast is fully cooked, let it rest for an hour or so.
  10. Cut thin slices against the grain.
  11. Return meat to the sauce until ready to serve.

Note: Freezes well.


What will you be serving this Rosh Hashanah? Leave a comment and share your menu—we can all use some new ideas.