Brisket Carbonnade

For dinner, I made Brisket a la Carbonnade from the Gourmet cookbook. It's very easy, and turned out great. You end up with a rich brown sauce that's slightly sweet from the onions and beer. Brown the brisket in olive oil on all sides for about 10min, in a large ovenproof pot with a cover. Cook 2lbs of thinly sliced onions in the fat left behind from the browning (I added a touch more oil) until translucent. Leave half the onions in the pot. Put the brisket on top of the onions, and spread the other half of the onions on top. Add a bottle of beer (not dark beer, I used Alaskan Amber because it was in the fridge), a bay leaf, and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The recipe also calls for a cube of porcini or beef boullion, crushed. I didn't have any, so I soaked a dried morel in boiling water for a few minutes, and added the liquid to the pot. Bring all that to a boil, then cover it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours. Let it stand a bit (the cookbook recommends 1/2 hour, but we didn't wait that long) when you take it out. Slice crosswise and pour the oniony sauce in the bottom of the pot over the slices.