Zaydie’s Secret Recipe!
I want to introduce you to my hubby Murray better known as Zaydie (grandfather) by the mishpocha (family, pronounced mish-po-cha). Just yesterday we were in the kitchen together and I asked Murray about the secret ingredient he uses when he makes the brisket. Well, let me tell you what happened….
Bubbie: “Murray, everyone has been asking how you make that wonderful beef brisket. There is a flavor I cannot identify.”
Zaydie: “Well Bea, I’ll tell you over a glass tea. First you have to go out to the field and find a cow that is ready for the table. You put her in the back of the wagon and bring her to Saul the butcher and…”
Bubbie: “No, no, no. In this country we don’t have a cow, we go to the grocery store and buy the brisket.”
Zaydie: “Oh yes, much easier. Well, you buy the biggest brisket and trim the fat from this meat. Oy, it takes forever to trim. I should have brought Saul over from the old country with me, he could trim like no one else.”
Bubbie: “Murray, enough with the fat and the trimming! I want to know how you get that unusual flavor?”
Zaydie: “Shush, shush, I am getting to that. We have to mix up the sauce to soak the meat in.”
Bubbie: “Sauce? Oy, you mean marinade.”
Zaydie: “Ya, ya, marinade, schamranade; whatever you want to call it.”
Bubbie: “What is in the marinade?”
Zaydie: “It’s a secret.”
Bubbie: “We told the readers we would tell them.”
Zaydie: “Ya, ya. Well, you pick garlic from the garden, or I guess you can buy from your grocery store. Then chop it up into small pieces, add minced onion flakes, seasoning, and the secret American ingredient that Pilgrims told to our ancestors – whole berry cranberry sauce. You cover the meat with this paste and leave in a big schissel (pot) overnight. The next day you bake until ready, slice thin and eat with gravy made from the drippings in the pan.”
Bubbie: “So that’s what it is – cranberries – who would have thought the Pilgrims would have a say in your brisket!”
Zaydie: “I thought it would make my Zaydie’s recipe more “American Style” with a flavor nothing can compare. Tell your readers to get some from the New Hampshire Jewish Food Festival – they make it the same way.”
Bubbie: “I think you just did!”
Next week we are making the STRUDEL so good it melts in your mouth! Until then, Zei Gazunt (be well)
