cooking @ home

I’ve made brisket of beef before several times and each time it was made the same basic way, maybe a bit more “American” standard roast a few times, maybe a bit more “Italian” flavoring once or twice, but I was definitely in the mood for something more robust and different. Only one way to go then, BBQ-style, and when it comes to beef and BBQ, that means Texan. Actually, not, it seems.

I thought Texan, but I missed by a few states. Seems Texas does love it’s brisket big-time, but a little research turns out they’re not much into the sauce masking the meat taste. Seems when it comes to sauce as well as ingredients like cinnamon, brown sugar and a tomato base, and beef instead of pork, we’re talking more towards Missouri.

Hey I may be a Northerner, and I might get the flavor of my states wrong once in a blue moon, but baby, whatever it is and wherever it comes from I can still cook. So I might not be the Alton Brown of cooking — which is cool, cause we got one of those already and he does a fine job — and I might not get my facts about the origins correct 100 percent of the time, but I still say you’ll be back for seconds and maybe even thirds!

My occasionally confused geography knowledge out of the way, you know I’ve discovered something. That as I do more and more cooking, I am surprised to find I never do a single rub or one (only) BBQ sauce. I guess that’s good, but it’s very surprising. You see, after I made one that I considered “my master” sauce (as well as the rub) I figured at the time “Great, this is the one I will stick with”. And it turns out, I don’t.

Again, that’s probably a good thing. Not only am I constantly making variants according to, what may just be my whim of the moment, but perhaps I am also altering the sauce and the rub each time to go better with the component ingredient at hand. In this particular case, especially with the rub, I went a bit sweeter … we’re talking lots of brown sugar and some cinnamon. To counterbalance that I also went a tad hotter than normal with the other ingredients (it still balanced at the end, that’s what always counts)

And in the case of the sauce, very tomato-y (I was using up some bruschetta and some extra cherry tomatoes I had left over instead of using ketchup as my base.) I often add some lemon or lime towards the end for acidity, thing is I was over acidity this time, didn’t need it. Also, since I had diced tomatoes and cherry ones I used a blender for the first time, instead of just mixing with a spoon. Again, a bit diff than usual, but worked out nicely

I sometimes like looking at other folks recipes before doing my own. It gives me a direction, and sometimes a side influence. See what others do, what I like and don’t like. Then no printing of their recipes (do print and use mine though!) … just something to keep in mind before I start and go on my own trek, my own way. And I’ll tell you something, what I consider a big tip. Looking about for different recipes I kept seeing people putting in BBQ sauce and water, or BBQ sauce and either chicken or beef stock. And this is my advice.

Some important words — and my philosophy — when it comes to thinning something out, or adding more liquid … If you need to add something too thin or because your reduction is going to fast (and you can’t alter the heat setting), here is how it works with me. If something says water, well … that’s it, it is water, as in watering down. Most of the time, adding water means “taking away from”. Unless the sauce or whatever is super thick (and well-spiced). So if you have to add something, at the very least add stock instead — this will give something to the dish, albeit subtle it is still adding not subtracting. So if the choice is between water and stock, go with stock.

However, there is one much better way to go, the next order of magnitude, if the choice is water or stock, don’t go with either of them — go with wine. A totally new, deeper level will be added, naturally more so if it’s a red wine, and something a bit more subtler (though not as subtle as stock) if it’s a white wine. When do you add which? You should know by feeling. If it’s light and delicate, let’s say a spinach and cheese sauce, white wine. If it’s a hearty, spiced out, beefy, tomato-y BBQ sauce — red wine, baby.

Oven-Roasted BBQ Beef Brisket
©2007 Harry Kenney

ingredients:

2 1/2 lb – 4 lb brisket of beef

dry rub:

3 tblsps light brown sugar
1 tblsp cinnamon
3 tblsp chilli powder
1 tblsp red cayenne
2 tsps cilantro
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tblsp cumin
2 tsps garlic powder
2 tsps onion powder
salt
pepper

sweet and hot BBQ sauce:

to taste:

16 oz. diced tomatoes (or crushed or ketchup)
vegetable oil
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (I had these on hand)
lots of soy
lots of worchestershire
honey
molasses
minced garlic
dijon
cumin
cayenne
salt
pepper

1 1/2 cups of a full bodied red wine (I used Chianti)

Make many light scores with knife through the fatty bottom side. Mix rub ingredients together well and now “rub” onto all sides of your brisket. Place in either in large gallon-sized zipper bag or on plate covered well with both plastic and aluminum foil. Let sit in refrigerator as long as possible. An hour at the least, or even overnight.

When ready to cook, get a pan hot, then add oil and brown and sear brisket on all sides. I find tongs help do this best without letting out the blood that forks would. This takes two to five minutes. Now either you have done this in a pan or pot that is able to be put into the oven, or if you hadn’t, now place in dish or other oven vessel, fat side upward.

Place in preheated oven at 375 degrees. No lid nor covering. Meanwhile combine ingredients to make the sauce, using blender or food processor to mix and get tomatoes down to a finer pulp. After the brisket has been in the oven for 45 minutes, place entire sauce over and on the sides of the brisket along with the wine. Now cover. About every 30-45 minutes mix sauce around sides and take some and baste over the brisket. On at least one of the there intervals, actually turn the brisket over so the fat side is on the bottom, remember next time to turn it again fat side up and leave it that way for rest of cooking. For a 2.5 pound brisket this is going to take roughly 2 to 2-1/2 hours. For a 4 pound brisket about 3 to 3-1/2. hours.

Sauce you have reduced down into a thick blackish red after about 2.5 hours. You do not want this to burn or it will give a bitter and burnt taste to your brisket. If necessary, add some more wine or some water and mix. This is especially true for if you have the larger and weightier slab. When temperature gets to 160°F and looks like part of it is flaking, the brisket is done. 2 1/2 lb brisket will get you 4-5 servings, a 4 lb one will make you about 7-10, depending how you slice it.

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