As we head into the chilly temperatures of mid-December, I urge you to consider a brisket: and this red wine version roasts to a beautiful glaze with meat that’s perfectly tender. It starts with the brisket itself. A whole brisket weighs about twelve to fifteen pounds, but is generally cut into two pieces: the flat and the point. The flat has a texture more like corned beef (which is essentially what you make corned beef from), and the point tends to be fattier—but with fat comes the potential for silkiness once that fat renders. You probably don’t have to choose, though. Butchers routinely simply cut briskets into cross-sections of about five pounds, giving you a little flat and a little point. That’s the perfect amount for this recipe.

You should be able to see a thick line of fat running down the center of the meat; you’re going to cut the meat in half along that fat, and then trim most of the fat off of both pieces. You only want to leave about ¼ inch of fat. If this scares you, ask your butcher to do it for you before you leave the store.

At this point it just needs a little salt and pepper, generously, all over; then you’re going to sear it with peanut oil in a large skillet over medium to high heat. You’ll notice it browning quickly in the fat, about thirty seconds. Keep turning the pieces of meat with tongs, so they brown all over. Once that’s done, remove the meat from the pan and place it in a deep-sided baking dish. The meat should fit easily in there, and the edges should come almost all the way up to the height of the meat.

To make the braising liquid, take two large carrots, three stalks of celery, one whole yellow onion, and two large cloves of garlic. Don’t worry about peeling them, just make sure you rinse them well. Then throw everything into your food processor and pulse until everything is a uniformly large chop. Turn the heat back on for the skillet and sauté the chopped vegetables in the oil for eight to ten minutes, turning often.