Happy Valentine’s Day! Love was in the air, and so was the scent of brisket. For this dinner we made braised brisket with egg noodles, roasted brussel sprouts and the last of our peas from our garden (frozen). For dessert, we made Creme Brulee. The brisket is surprisingly simple for such a tasty meal, while the Creme Brulee was fun (we used the blow-torch mom gave us for Valentine’s Day!).
The complete dinner:
The full dinner!
The braised brisket ingredients:
Ingredients for the brisket.
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 1 first cut of beef brisket (4 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the sliced onion and garlic.
Cutting the onions.
Then season the brisket with salt and pepper and place, fat side up, in slow cooker and add the chicken broth.
Seasoning the brisket.
Adding chicken broth.
Cover and cook on high until brisket is fork-tender, about 6 hours. Afterwards, remove the brisket and thinly slice against the grain.
Brussel Sprouts: We couldn’t find any fresh brussel sprouts upstate so we decided to experiment with frozen ones (because they are Mom’s favorite vegetable–she’s crazy). We thawed them and then we tossed them with sliced red onions and olive oil (with salt & pepper). Then we roasted them in the oven. The were amazingly delicious.
Stirring red onions and brussel sprouts together
Ready to roast!
What we got for Valentine’s Day: blow torch, butane, and ramekins…
Ramekins+Blowtorch=FUN
The ingredients for the Creme Brulee.
- 6 egg yolks
-
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
-
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Boiling water
- 8 teaspoons granulated sugar
First, heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.. In 13×9-inch pan, place 4 (6-oz) ceramic ramekins.* In small bowl, slightly beat egg yolks with wire whisk.
Separating yolk from white.
In large bowl, stir whipping cream, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the vanilla until well mixed.Then, add egg yolks and beat.Pour cream mixture evenly into ramekins.
Adding the mixture to the ramekins.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until top is light golden brown and sides are set (centers will be jiggly).
Using tongs or grasping tops of ramekins with pot holder, carefully transfer ramekins to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
Uncover the ramekins; gently blot any liquid from tops of custards with paper towel. Then, Sprinkle 2 teaspoons granulated sugar over each chilled custard. Holding the miniature blow torch 3 to 4 inches from custard, caramelize sugar on each custard by heating with torch about 2 minutes, moving flame continuously over sugar in circular motion, until sugar is melted and light golden brown.
Blowtorch.
The whole dessert!!
Crème Brûlée
