Greenhorn Acres’ Marcy Nameth recommends this recipe from the Nourished Kitchen blog, with its appealing fall colors and flavors. Tzimmes is a Jewish dish.

Ingredients:
4-5 T. beef tallow
4-5 lbs. beef brisket
1 qt. homemade beef stock
1 pint + 1 c. hard apple cider
6 large carrots (chopped into bite-size coins)
3 large sweet potatoes or garnet yams (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
2 c. pitted prunes
2 shallots (peeled, and thinly sliced)
pan juices from the brisket

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat the tallow in a large skillet or griddle until it melts and becomes quite hot. Sear the brisket on each side, about 3-4 minutes, then place it in a clay baker, pouring 1 qt. homemade beef stock and 1 pint cider over the brisket. Braise the brisket, covered at 300 degrees for 3 hrs before preparing the tzimmes.

After 3 hrs or so, add the chopped carrots and sweet potatoes or yams to the brisket. Continue to roast at 300 degrees for another hour. After the brisket has roasted for 4 hrs, and the carrots & sweet potatoes or yams have cooked for 1 hr, add the pitted prunes to the clay baker, increase the heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake for 30-45 minutes.

Remove the brisket and tzimmes from the oven, placing the brisket on a serving dish to rest and surrounding it by the tzimmes, straining the liquid from the clay baker as you do. Keep the brisket and tzimmes warm by allowing them to rest in your hot oven with the heat turned off while you prepare the reduction sauce. Melt 2 more T of tallow over a medium flame, adding two thinly sliced shallots to the hot fat. When the shallots release their fragrance and begin to caramelize a bit, add the braising liquid and additional cup of hard cider to the saucepan. Simmer slowly until the liquid is reduced by half. Slice the brisket, serve with tzimmes and reduction sauce.