Brisket is to Passover what turkey is to Thanksgiving – traditional, expected, long-cooking, and – just as with those oversized stuffed birds – everyone has their own one-and-only, tried-and-true, never-mess-with-it, shut-up-or-I’ll kill-you version. I created my own best brisket many years ago, taking the best of what I liked from several recipes from my cookbook library and eschewing the overly-fussy ones on the web. I’ve passed it on to friends and family who also swear by it. But no matter what your brisket preference is – and I do hope you enjoy this one – remember always to:
- Make it the day before serving
- Reduce the sauce
- Slice it against the grain, on the bias, once it’s cooled
- Store it sliced and covered with your sauce until ready to reheat for serving
- Ponder the question of why we celebrate a holiday where the Hebrews fled without time to leaven their bread, and yet we spend hours and days in the kitchen cooking for it
RONI’S PASSOVER BRISKET
3 tbs. sweet Hungarian paprika
2 tbs. vegetable or olive oil
4 cups ginger ale
2 pkgs. Mrs. Grass or Goodman’s Onion Soup mix – or 4 ounces Frontier Natural Onion Soup Mix (a former client)
1 cup marinara sauce (Trader Joe’s Low Fat Toscano marinara works nicely)
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce (avoid the High Fructose Corn Syrup if you can)
6 ounces dried pitted prunes
24-30 baby carrots, or 5 medium carrots cut on the diagonal into 1/2″ thick slices
Preheat oven to 350. Coat the brisket all over with the paprika. Heat the oil in a large roasting pan over two burners and sear the brisket about four minutes on each side. Remove to a platter. Reduce heat in the roasting pan to medium low and in it combine the ginger ale, onion soup mix, tomato sauce, and cranberry sauce, scraping up any browned bits, just until it begins to boil. Return brisket to the roasting pan and spoon the sauce all over it, cover very tightly with heavy-duty foil and bake for 75 minutes. Then remove from oven, gently remove and save the foil, add the carrots and pitted prunes, turn brisket over, re-cover with the foil and bake for another 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours until very tender when pierced with a fork.
Remove brisket to a platter. Reduce the sauce, boiling and stirring over a medium high heat for about 10 minutes to slightly thicken. Let it cool at room temperature and slice the brisket against the grain, on the bias, into 1/4” thick slices and pour the sauce over. Refrigerate, covered, and remove from fridge about an hour before you plan to reheat it. Reheat at 300 for about an hour while you enjoy your Seder.
ronilovescooking 
Having enjoyed your wonderful brisket at your Seder table, I can attest to how wonderful this (and all of the dishes on the table that evening) it was. Also had to chuckle at the comment about the unleavened bread and hours cooking dinner.
I guess that’s cuz that’s what we do…
🙂
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Thanks Rockie – we loved having you and Tom share the holiday with us. That photo is the table we set that night.
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This recipe sounds wonderful- as wonderful your table in this pic! 🙂
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Thank you Kevin. Wish you could come join us one day.
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Oh, how I love this recipe, Roni! Enjoyed at your home, and then made it here to the delight of family and friends.
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I know, Deb. Maybe some day you’ll fall off the vegetarian wagon and have it again :).
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I am loving this blog! Love the photos, also.
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Thank you Cindy – I really enjoy doing it!
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Reblogged this on ronilovescooking and commented:
As Passover approaches, I’m reposting one of my very first blog pieces from two years ago, because there must always be brisket!
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“Ponder the question of why we celebrate a holiday where the Hebrews fled without time to leaven their bread, and yet we spend hours and days in the kitchen cooking for it”
I LOVE this—how true!!! 🙂
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