Chili Braised Beef Brisket

Being on a no salt diet is not easy, eating out is not really an option, and you can't simply just make a sandwich at the office. What I do for my weekly lunches is cook a few dishes on Sunday and pack 'em up for the week :) This coupled with some salad gives me a gourmet week with no hassle at the office! This week I am cooking a beef brisket. You might be thinking that's a lot for one person, but trust me, everything I eat my fiance eats too!

Chili Beef Brisket

Ingredients
1 star anise
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
black pepper
10 dried chilies (pisillo or ancho, will work fine) - seeded
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
sherry or red wine vinegar
1 onion, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes or 1 can no salt added chopped tomatoes or half a package of POM chopped tomatoes
1 4ish pound brisket
2 cups low sodium chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small skillet, roast star anise and fennel, stirring with a wooden spoon until fragrant and beginning to brown. Grind the star anise, fennel seeds, and 5 of the dried chilis in a spice grinder or coffee grinder. Rub all over brisket with black pepper to your taste.


Boil 3 cups of water in a small sauce pan, once it is boiling, turn off the stove and add the remaining chilies. Let them soak for about a half hour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil in a heavy large fry pan or dutch oven until nearly smoking. Brown all sides of the brisket, using tongs to turn the meat. Don't fret if the spices begin to blacken on the bottom of the pan. Once the meat is browned, remove and place on a platter if using a dutch over, or place in a large glass baking dish if not using a dutch oven.

Add the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, adding a little bit of the chicken broth to scrape up the brown bits in the pan. While the onion is cooking, place 1 cup of the chili soaking water with the chilies in a blender and blend. Add the chili sauce to the onions, and add the tomato sauce or grate the fresh tomatoes on the largest openings of your grater, and cook for another minute or so. Add the remaining chicken broth and chili/onion mixture to your brisket dish (or add your brisket back to your dutch oven), and cover with a lid or tin foil. Place in the oven for 3 1/2 - 4 hours.

Let your baby rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into her, and only cut off what you plan to eat the next day to keep the rest fresh and lovely. I actually let my entire beast rest in pan in the fridge overnight with all the juices so I can skim off the fat that thickens at the top, then I make my lunch for the morning :)