For the last several years, if we know each other offline and you ask me what brisket you should make for Passover or another Jewish holiday and you seem a little concerned over the work of it all — because something not discussed nearly often enough is that it’s never just about the brisket, right? It’s starters and sides and desserts, plus table-setting, water carafes (there are never enough), procuring wine and someone (hopefully not me) needs to make sure the place is passably spic-and-span for guests — I will send you an email with the recipe for what I call Stupid Easy Brisket. I’m overdue to stop holding out on the rest of us, too, albeit with a less insulting title.

It’s not that either of the two brisket recipes I’ve shared before — the Tangy Spiced Brisket in the archives and Maya’s Sweet-and-Sour High Holiday Brisket in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook — are difficult. But nothing loosens the tension knots in my brain like knowing I do not need to shop for basically anything I don’t already keep around just to make an utterly wonderful brisket, one that everybody wants the recipe for.

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