Aromatic Slow-Cooked Sweet & Sour Brisket

Today we drove to Philadelphia, MO to pick up the two Poland China breed hogs that we split with three other couples. Wow, they were some huge pigs, so large that Craig purchased a new Christmas present for us - another freezer. We laughed that we freezer #1 is the bison freezer and freezer #2 is the pig freezer.

Despite the dreariness of the day, the beauty of the rural Missouri countryside was to be appreciated, and it reminded me of an Andrew Wyeth landscape. And I think that nearly every city, state, and country has a town named after it in Missouri (Nevada, Louisiana, Mexico, Cuba, Montreal, Houston (in Texas County), the list goes on and on.

I threw a bison brisket in the slow cooker before we left and came home to a fragrant house. It shredded with a fork and melted in your mouth. I made hot and sour soup (homemade) for me and the guys had egg rolls (frozen) till I got everything else together - a simply veggie stir fry and a new find that everyone loved. In lieu of boring steamed brown rice, I picked up a package of Chinese Noodles from China Bowl. They were a non-fried ramen type noodle, took less than five minutes to cook, soft, and I envision they'd be great in soup.

Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker (Bison) Brisket

(from cookinglight.com - no modifications)

(Photo from Cooking Light)

1 28 oz.can crushed tomatoes
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 2-1/2 lb.piece flat-cut brisket, trimmed - mine may have been larger
Salt and pepper

Place tomatoes, onion, garlic, raisins, brown sugar and lemon juice in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Sprinkle brisket with 1-1/2 tsp. salt and season with pepper. Place brisket on tomato mixture and then spoon half of tomato mixture on meat. Cover and cook on high until meat is fork tender, 5 to 6 hours. ***I cooked on high one hour, then low for likely 8 hours.

Transfer brisket to a cutting board, tent with foil to keep warm, and let stand for 10 minutes. Skim fat from sauce and discard; season sauce with salt and pepper. Slice brisket across grain, transfer to a serving platter and spoon some sauce over meat.

Yield: 6 Servings