This edition of Full Belly Files was originally emailed to subscribers on January 6, 2023. To receive Matt Kettmann’s food newsletter in your inbox each Friday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
If my home cooking regimen felt lacking toward the end of 2022, the holidays dramatically corrected that course. From Hanukkah through Christmas gatherings to a New Year’s Eve party in which I tackled one of my most dramatic roasts to date, this was a season to savor.
It all started with brisket, that fatty cut of beef popular on the Jewish-American tables of my wife’s family. I’d never cooked brisket until we hosted a Hanukkah dinner a few years ago — when I smoked about nine pounds and braised another five — and I haven’t cooked many since. But the basics are simple enough: browning the floured brisket first to form a crust, and then braising slow-and-low, with tomato paste, onions, some stock, and whatever other roasting vegetables/aromatic herbs you have on hand. (A lot of 20th-century Jewish recipes call for ketchup and Coca-Cola, but I just can’t go there.)