Legacy Kitchen - Where History and Recipes Meet

drschindler4
Jan 5
2 min read

Bella Hirsch’s Brisket

“As you might imagine, my mother did most of the cooking in our home and Bella was an incredible cook. Even though she herself grew up in extreme poverty and suffered severe hunger as a child, she became a natural in the kitchen and cooked many ‘Eastern European Jewish’ foods (borscht, stuffed cabbage, cholent, chicken soup). But, she also became a gourmet chef and cooked dishes from around the world.” - Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, daughter of Bella and Dick and President of Oakland University in Michigan

Brisket-Sweet and Sour

1 bottle of beer

1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup flour

1 4-5 lb. brisket

1 head garlic, peeled and pressed.

Salt and pepper

Paprika

2 Tbls. Olive oil

6 large onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine beer, cranberry sauce ketchup, and flour in medium bowl; set aside.

Rub brisket with garlic, salt pepper and generous amount of paprika.

Heat oil in large heavy pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add brisket and sear 8-10 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove meat from pot.

Add onions to pot; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Stir frequently to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of pot.

Place onions in the bottom of a large roasting pan and top with brisket. Pour beer mixture over the meat.

Bake, covered for 3 hours. Cool for 30 minutes; slice across the grain.

“On occasion, my father would make the four of us breakfast or ‘light’ meals to give my mother ‘time off’. One of his specialties was Eggs a la Birmingham.” - Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz

Rabbi Dick Hirsch’s

Eggs à la Birmingham

One egg per child

One piece of challah for each egg

Butter

One glass to make a hole in the challah for the egg

Melt the butter in a frying pan

Make a hole in the challah using the glass

Fry the challah in the pan

Crack the egg and gently put it into the hole in the challah

Fry until golden brown

Turn and fry other side until golden brown