Brisket

Brisket, like many stew-like things, has its benefit: its taste improves over days (up to an extent, obviously). On top of being the lovely dish it is, brisket is also ideal to make into sandwiches the following day. That is, if it lasts that long. There are many ways to make brisket; however, they all take a long time. Some people marinade the meat for a day or two before cooking; others simply cook it for a long time. This recipe demands a 12 hour cooking time. Don't try to cheat by cooking it for less; I tried that once and it just wasn't as good.

Serves 3
- 650 g of brisket beef
- 1/3 cup of butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup cup of fennel, chopped
- 6 slices of bacon (smoked or euro, from the butcher only) cubed
- 4 gloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 ancho pepper, crushed
- 1 chipotle pepper, cruched
- 1 to 3 scotch bonnet peppers depending on the spiciness you want (be careful, these are damn hot peppers) *Remember to always remove the seeds from hot peppers before cooking with them if you don't want extremely unpleasant surprises. Also, after dealing with the peppers, wash your hands with both soap and alcohol (alcohol is key) to avoid even worse surprises (like a deathly painful burn in the eyes or other unmentionable places).  
- 1 cup of mushrooms, chopped
- 1 apple, chopped (I put in a Honey Crisp apple.)
- spices (espelette, mace, Jamaican allspice, ginger, coarsely crushed black pepper, green pepper, paprika, laurel leaves, etc; a pinch of each will do) + salt- fresh herbs (rosemary and coriander)
- 1 tbsp hickory (if you cannot find hickory, put in a drop of liquid smoke)
- 1 tsp grains of paradise (don't worry about it if you can't find them; they aren't the easiest thing to find)
-1/2 cup of broth (either beef or chicken) *I keep fat and jelly left over from other dishes (eg: roasted chicken leftover juices) and use that instead of broth.
- 2 oz of vinegar (I use either cognac vinegar or apple vinegar.)
- 2 oz of apple cider or apple juice (or change it up and put in a light beer instead)
- 1/2 oz of alcohol (either a pastis, a scotch, or a cognac)
- 1 tsp of grape must

1. In a crockpot (the cast iron pot is crucial) on medium heat, put in butter.
2. When butter begins to boil, brown the meat in it on both sides and remove the meat from the pot (this means that you will cook the meat for about 30 sec on each side). Do not forget to remove the meat. Set the meat aside.
3. Throw in onions, fennel, and bacon. Cook for about 4 minutes uncovered.
4. Add peppers, mushrooms, apple, spices, herbs, hickory, and grains of paradise. Cook for about 5 minutes, covered.
5. Bring the temperature to low (the lowest in fact). Add in broth, vinegar, apple cider or juice, alcohol, and grape must. Stir.
6. Add in the meat. Make sure to cover up the meat with the contents of the crockpot. Cover.
7. Let cook for 11 hours on low heat.
8. With tongs, pull apart the brisket. Cover and let cook for one more hour.

I recommend serving the brisket atop of mashed potatoes or in a sandwich. Enjoy; it's really good.