Brisket, Fingerlings & Maple-Glazed Carrots: A High Holy Day Feast Made Easy
The Jewish High Holy Days are a time of reflection, family, and—let’s be honest—serious food. Few dishes are more beloved than brisket. It’s the ultimate in Jewish cooking, appearing on Rosh Hashanah and Passover tables, as well as at many a Shabbat dinner. A good brisket doesn’t just feed a crowd—it anchors the meal with comfort and tradition.
A Brisket with a Surprising Backstory
The recipe I’m sharing today has become a personal favorite, and it even gave my friend Jay Feinberg’s grandmother’s brisket a run for its money. The surprise? It didn’t come from a Jewish kitchen at all, but from Lee Bailey, the Mississippi-born tastemaker who shook up the cookbook world in the 1980s. His Country Weekends remains timeless—full of picnics on docks and lunches in the open air—and tucked in its pages is this brisket, meltingly tender, bathed in onion gravy, and almost embarrassingly easy to make.
How to Make the Brisket
All it asks of you is a little onion chopping, a generous hand with salt and pepper, and three hours in the oven. While it cooks, you can turn to its perfect companions: Alex Guarnaschelli’s fingerling potatoes, baked with bay leaves until fragrant and finished with butter, and maple-glazed carrots that take all of ten minutes on the stove. Add a quick horseradish cream and you’ve got a holiday dinner that feels effortless.
A Feast That Practically Cooks Itself
The beauty of brisket is that it only improves when made ahead, so you can spend the holiday focused on family, not fussing in the kitchen. Put the brisket in the oven, pour a glass of red wine, and take in the aroma that promises both tradition and celebration. This is a make-ahead miracle. The brisket takes about three hours in the oven, but only ten minutes of your actual attention. While it cooks, slip the potatoes into the oven, whip up the horseradish cream, and glaze the carrots. By the time the table is set, you’ve got a feast that practically cooked itself.
In 1983, Lee Bailey published two seminal cookbooks: “City Food” and “Country Weekends”.
Although Lee called himself a designer, he was also a masterful entertainer and he knew everyone—myself included. One look at the acknowledgments that accompanied “Country Weekends” was a look into Who’s Who of the 80s in New York. From Nora Ephron to Liz Smith, Lee Bailey befriended bold-faced names and pretty much everyone else as well. With his business partner, Dick Huebner, he owned a Design Shop in what was then Henri Bendel’s wildly fashionable store on 57th Street. The pair even opened a branch in Southampton, where their customers flocked in summer. Lee had great style and great taste. And he brought the Lifestyle cookbook into being. Astonishingly, Lee’s books are still in print! I truly believe you should have at least one in your cookbook library. Click here and go to his collection on Amazon https://amzn.to/48xDDf4
HERE ARE TODAY’S RECIPES FOR ALL FOUR DISHES…
Braised and Potted Brisket of Beef
Brisket of Beef at its most fork-tender with rich onion gravy and sliced onions to top the beef.
Ingredients
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- 4 lbs of first-cut Fresh Brisket of Beef
- 1 tsp. fresh Thyme leaves (no stems)
- 4 large sweet onions (2 chopped to medium dice, 2 cut into slices)
- 1 cup red wine.
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 2 Salt and Pepper the meat generously. Put it, fat side facing up, into a Dutch oven in which the meat fits tightly. Sprinkle with half of the thyme and pack the top with the chopped onions. Cover and put into the oven. Turn after 1 hour.
- Step 3 Add the balance of the thyme, more salt, and pepper, and continue cooking for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Step 4 Put the onion rings or top and add the red wine. Cover tightly and cook for an additional 45 minutes. It should be fork-tender. When serving, slice against the grain of the meat and spoon gravy over the meat. Serve with horseradish cream.
- Step 5
Horseradish Cream
An ideal sauce for any cut of beef.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 4 tbsp. Bottled Horseradish
Directions
- Step 1 In a bowl, combine sour cream and horseradish. Stir. Serve
Fingerling Potatoes
Wonderfully aromatic fingerling potatoes come buttered to the table
Ingredients
- 2 pounds small fingerling potatoes, washed and dried
- Pinch coarse sea salt – very important
- 15 bay leaves
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
Directions
- Step 1 Add the potatoes to a casserole with a fitted lid that is just big enough to hold the potatoes. Toss them with some sea salt and the bay leaves. Cover the casserole and put it in the center of the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Step 2 When the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, remove the casserole from the oven and discard the bay leaves.
- Step 3 Add 4 tbsp. Butter to the casserole, return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Maple Glazed Carrots
The sweetness of carrots magnified with the addition of the all-natural sweetness of Maple Syrup
Ingredients
- 24 Carrots
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp. Maple Syrup
Directions
- Step 1 Put the carrots in a saucepan and fill it with cold water to cover.
- Step 2 Turn the heat on the burner to high and cook carrots for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Step 3 Turn the heat down to medium, drain carrots, add butter, and when it is melted, add maple syrup. Swish carrots in syrup. Serve.
NOW COMES THE NEXT BIG QUESTION…WHAT’S FOR DESSERT? CLICK ON EITHER PICTURE OR LINK…AND CHOOSE.
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Want to try the recipe for brisket. Can you post the recipe for the potatoes, carrots and the horseradish cream?
Dear Roberta, I cannot thank you enough for writing. I am simply appalled that I omitted those recipes. Forgive me! I am in the midst of a move and this was published in haste. Now you have the recipes for everything on the plate. Bon Appetit!