Beef Brisket with Apricots and Prunes

1. Combine chopped garlic, chopped apricots, 1 teaspoon cumin, cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper in a blender and process until coarsely puréed. Make a slit in the fat side of brisket with the point of a sharp knife. Insert a little purée into slit, using your fingers and the knife tip to push it in as far as possible. Repeat all over the top, bottom and sides of brisket, spacing slits evenly. Reserve any remaining purée. Place brisket in a plastic zip-top bag or wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 275F.
3. Scrape off any purée that may have seeped out of the slits. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. Add brisket and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Do not over-brown or let a hard crust form. Transfer fat side up to a platter.
4. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon oil from pan. Add onion and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until softened and gold. Add whole garlic cloves, carrots and chopped ginger; sauté 3 minutes. Add coriander, cayenne and remaining cumin. Stir 30 seconds. Add wine. Boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until liquid is reduced almost to a glaze. Add broth and bring to a simmer.
5. Spread any reserved purée over brisket, sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper, and add meat to pan. Cover and oven-braise 3 to 4 hours, until fork tender, basting with pan juices every half hour. About 30 minutes before the meat is done, stir in quartered apricots and prunes.
6. Remove from oven, cool, cover well with foil and refrigerate overnight. Scrape off all solid fat and discard. Remove brisket from pan and slice thinly across the grain.
7. Bring gravy to a boil and cook until thickened. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
8. Return sliced brisket to pan with gravy and simmer until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Recipe adapted with permission from Jayne Cohen’s Jewish Holiday Cooking (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2008).