Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
Alison Roman wants to make a brisket worth looking forward to. This one is seasoned heavily with salt and pepper, seared until deeply browned, strewn with caramelized savory aromatics (no mushy carrots!), and braised until fall-apart tender. When it’s nearly done, crank the oven and brown the top again, restoring the crust lost in the braise and reducing the liquid to a rich spoonable sauce. “And yeah,” she adds, “of course there will be red pepper flakes because every hunk of meat deserves some heat and I like what I like.” Serve this with crisped boiled potatoes, thick slices of toast, or rice noodles.