Southwestern Pulled Brisket

From inthekitchenwithkath.com

(Adapted from a recipe on smittenkitchen.com)

Serves 4 (simply choose a larger brisket for more servings)

1 pound beef brisket

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

About 1 cup sliced onions

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

1 (14½ ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice

1-2 whole canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (Use just 1 or 2 chiles from the can—the rest can be kept refrigerated for quite a while. I used 1 chile; for a 3 pound brisket, I might use 2)

1 bay leaf

¼ cup honey

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Salt and pepper the brisket.

3. Add the oil to the skillet and when it’s hot, put the brisket in the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, until it’s nicely browned on the first side. Then turn it over to brown it on the other side for about 5 minutes.

4. Put the brisket in the slow cooker.

5. Put the garlic, onion slices, chili powder, coriander, and cumin in the skillet and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.

6. Pour the vinegar in and cook, stirring, until the vinegar is almost gone. (Stand to the side so you don’t breathe in the vinegar fumes.)

7. Pour the water into the pan. Stir and then pour everything from the pan into the slow cooker.

8. Using your hands, break the tomatoes up into the slow cooker and then pour in the juice.

9. Add the chile, bay leaf and honey.

10. Cook on Low for 9 – 10 hours.

11. Remove the brisket from the slow cooker and pour the sauce into a pan. (It is quite “watery” at this point.) Bring the sauce to a boil and cook it until it is reduced quite a bit and is a lot thicker.

12. While the sauce is reducing, shred the beef using two forks.

13. When the sauce is cooked down, stir the beef into the sauce and cook for a few minutes to reheat the beef. and it’s ready to eat!