Italian Beef Brisket

I have been going through my recipe cabinet (I have collected thousands of them over the last 25 years) and am really trying to make the effort to whittle them down some. Here is a recipe from Cooking Pleasures Magazine Oct/Nov '05 that I prepared last night. It's a great recipe, but maybe just a little heavy for a week night, more like a Sunday dinner kind of a thing, if people still do that. It is amazing to me how easy it is to turn out a great dinner in a couple of hours. I serve this with a salad and a nice creamy polenta that I will post after this. I changed the recipe up some and will post my version. The sauce is equally good over the beef and the polenta. This is very tasty!!.

Italian Beef Brisket

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lb) beef brisket (flat cut or first cut)
2 tsp. herbes de provence
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 onions, chopped
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 (20 oz) can dice tomatoes
3/4 cup reduced- sodium beef broth
Pinch saffron threads, crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat heavy large pot over medium-high heat until hot, add oil. Add brisket; cook 5 to 7 minutes, until brown, turning once. Place on a plate, sprinkle both sides with herbes de provence, salt and pepper.
Add onions to pot; cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes to soften. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Increase heat to high. Add wine; bring to boil, scraping brown bits from bottom of pot. Boil 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in tomatoes, broth and saffron. Return brisket to pot; spoon some tomatoes over the top.
Cover; bake 1 hour. Turn brisket; spoon some tomatoes on top. Bake, covered, an additional hour.
Place brisket on cutting board, cover loosely with foil. Let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, crush tomatoes with potato masher. Slice beef and serve with sauce.