Listen to me closely: this is hands down the best beef recipe I’ve come across other than a four star restaurant. It is certainly BY FAR my favorite beef recipe I’ve ever made, and the most requested from my husband. If there is one dish that I desperately want you to try, it’s THIS one! I first discovered the brisket recipe in our church ladies cook book. You’ll find many treasures hiding in those types of cook books. This is certainly one of them. I just love all of the ingredients from the rosemary to the mushrooms. We don’t drink wine much at all, but BOY do we love meat recipes drenched in it! This one is flavored with red wine, and it’s magical ( I know – ironic that it’s from the church cookbook). This beef is perfect for a special occasion, and certainly will wow a crowd, but I promise you that it’s simple enough to make that you won’t want to wait for a special occasion. The recipe makes tons, and, I’ve discovered that it’s leftovers make outrageously flavorful beef stew! Unless you are vegetarian, you have no excuse not to love this stuff! You need to try this! I repeat – YOU NEED TO TRY THIS!! Can you sense my brisket passion at all?….

1 C dry red wine

1 C canned beef broth

1/2 C frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate, thawed

1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 large onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1  1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 (4 lb) trimmed flat cut brisket

1 C dried cranberries

2 oz medium portobello mushrooms, dark gills scraped and caps thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk wine, broth, cranberry concentrate and flour to blend in medium bowl. Pour into 15x10x2 inch roasting pan. Mix in onion, garlic and rosemary. Sprinkle brisket on all sides with salt and pepper. Place brisket, fat side up in roasting pan. Spoon some of the wine mixture over. Cover pan tightly with heavy duty foil. Bake brisket until very tender, basting with pan juices every hour, about 3  1/2 hrs. Transfer brisket to plate; cool 1 hr at room temperature. Thinly slice brisket across grain. Arrange slices in pan with sauce, overlapping slices slightly. (Brisket can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place mushrooms and cranberries in sauce around brisket. Cover pan with foil. Bake until mushrooms are tender and brisket is heated through, about 30 minutes (40 min, if brisket has been refrigerated.) Transfer sliced brisket and sauce to platter and serve. Serves 8.

Food pictures by: Rebecca O’Hara Photography