Brisket Old-School (Old World?) Style

This is a nice Jewish brisket recipe. It comes out just the way I always remember my grandmother and mother making for me. This takes longer than an hour, but it's an excellent crock pot meal that if you prep the night before, you can put in the crockpot in the morning, and let it cook for 8-10 hours while you work. 

What you will need:

a 5 lb (approximately) lean brisket, trimmed of as much fat as possible
4-5 large new potatoes, cut into eighths (alternately, 6 red potatoes)
two large carrots, peeled and sliced into circles
2 large white onions
6-7 cloves of garlic
1 large container of beef stock
1 small can of tomato paste
1-2 tbsps of canola oil
Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
1 bay leaf

First things first: Slice your onions into circles and extract your garlic cloves:

Set the onions and garlic aside in a bowl. Then slice your carrots and potatoes:

Set these aside in a separate bowl. Next, you will rinse and trim your brisket. Note, it is considerably harder to trim the fat off of a brisket than it is off of a lamb roast, but can be accomplished in approximately the same manner. Liberally season both sides of the brisket with sea salt and black pepper.

In a large flat saute pan, heat your canola oil. It should coat the bottom of the pan pretty evenly. After it is heated, drop in all of the onions and garlic, and saute for about 2-3 minutes, or until they are slightly translucent. There will be a wonderfully delicious aroma, I promise you.

After they are finished cooking, take the onions and garlic out with a slotted spoon, and put them back in their bowl. Transfer the brisket to the saute pan and turn the heat as high as it will go, as you will be searing the meat. It's ok if it hangs out a little bit; you can pick it up and sear each area.

Leave each side down for about 1-2 minutes; your sear should look something like this:

In the crockpot, pour half of your onion/garlic mixture on the bottom. Then pour in half of your carrots and potatoes. Then pour half of your container of chicken broth in, and place the bay leaf in as well. Mix in 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. Place the brisket on top of the layer of veggies; it's ok if you have to sort of fold it to get it to fit. Just get it in there. Then spread a thin layer of tomato paste on top of the brisket. Pour the rest of the veggies and chicken stock on top of the brisket, and mix in another tablespoon of tomato paste. shake in some more salt and pepper while you're at it. 

Cook on "low" heat for 8-10 hours. If you are at home, you can take the brisket out around hour 6 and slice it then return it to the crock pot to continue cooking that way; but if not, no worries, it still tastes good if you leave it alone.

To slice the brisket, do as so:

Serve with the delicious vegetables and broth over it, and enjoy!