Wine-Braised Brisket

Often when people make brisket they use a fairly large piece of meat but this was just for the two of us so my brisket was only about 1 and 1/2 pounds. The secret to a juicy brisket is letting the meat sit in the sauce a bit. Make this early in the day and then reheat before eating.

1-2 pound brisket
salt and pepper
1/4 olive oil
1/2 onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 long strips of lemon zest
2 t thyme
6 carrots peeled and cut in 3-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 300. Generously season brisket with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Sear brisket until browned 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add remaining 2 T oil and reduce heat to medium. Stir in garlic and onion and cook stirring 2 minutes, stir in wine--add broth, mustard, zest, and thyme; bring to a boil. Add meat. Cover, and transfer to oven and bake 2 hours.

Turn meat over and add carrots and cook another hour. Remove from oven-remove meat to a cutting board and let it cool. Remove carrots. Pour remaining sauce into baking dish. Slice meat against the grain and put back into the sauce. Arrange carrots around meat-cover with foil and refrigerate. Reheat covered in a 350 oven until warmed through--40 minutes or so.