1 (2-1/2 lb) beef brisket, trimmed
fresh ground pepper
3 cups diced onion
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
15 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2-1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1 can (14.9 ounce) Guinness stout beer
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brisket by trimming the surface fat known as silver-skin. Your knife should slide right under it and then you can easily cut it and the fat off. Blot the brisket dry as to not create steam during the browning process. Season the brisket with fresh ground pepper. In a large Dutch oven (7 qt) crisp bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon, leaving drippings in the pot (use the crispy bacon in another dish, I used mine in the potatoes). Turn up stove to med-high heat. Brown both sides of the meat in the bacon drippings (the browner the better), about 5 minutes per side. If you need to add more oil to prevent burning, do so. Remove the meat. The layers of sugars and proteins that are now stuck to the pan need to be removed by deglazing. Add the onion, carrots and celery and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits with the moisture from the vegetables. Add garlic after three minutes and de-glaze one minute more. Stir in parsley and peppercorns. Place beef back in the pot. Add stock/broth and beer; bring to a boil. Cover the pot and place in the oven, braising for two hours. Turn beef over and braise an additional 2 hours, or until fork tender. (If your piece of meat is larger, you might have to braise longer, but you may need to add a little more liquid if it is low. Meat should be falling-apart tender.) Remove meat from broth and keep warm. Strain the broth into a saucepan, throwing away all solids. Bring sauce to a boil and stir in vinegar and tomato paste. Now, in order to get that sheen, beautiful sauce you are going to combine the butter and the flour with a fork, mashing it together to a make ball of kneaded butter. This will help thicken the sauce and give it flavor. However, you want to whisk in only a little bit at a time into the sauce...whisking out all the little flour lumps. Simmer for five minutes. It's very simple and will give you a beautiful sauce. Serve brisket with potatoes.