Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a knife, pierce the skin of the brisket in 5 places and insert garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet or roasting pan; add meat, sear on all sides, and remove.

Add 2 more tablespoons oil to the same pan and saute 3/4 of the onions (about 6 cups) until they are limp. Add turmeric, ginger, white pepper, bay leaves, celery, 1/3 of diced tomatoes, and water to pan. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes; then let cool.

Place brisket in baking pan and surround with cooked vegetables. Roast, covered, in the oven for 3 hours or until a fork goes in and out of the meat easily. Remove, cool, and refrigerate, reserving vegetables. You can prepare this a day ahead of time.

The tomato-onion sauce can be done a day in advance as well: Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in frying pan; add remaining onions and saute until onions are translucent. Then add remaining diced tomatoes and simmer, covered, for a few minutes. Set aside or refrigerate overnight or until ready to serve meat.

When ready to serve, remove any fat that accumulated on brisket as it cooled.

Cut against the grain, into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Return slices to baking pan, along with reserved vegetables in which meat was cooked.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and reheat brisket, covered, for about 30 minutes.

Add to the tomato-onion mixture, olives, preserved lemons, and 2 tablespoons each of the parsley and cilantro, and heat in a small saucepan. Remove brisket and some, or all, of the vegetables to a serving platter and serve, covered with the tomato-onion sauce and garnished with the remaining parsley and cilantro.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.