Summertime is Brisket-time

Chef Bill’s Brisket RUB Recipe

Have y’all noticed yet, summer is here?  Welcome to a convection oven’s life!  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a nicely-seasoned, properly-tied roast, just step outside!  Of course, we enjoy the outdoors more than the soon-to-be-my-dinner-roast enjoys its time in the convection oven.  Now that it’s summer, we’re outdoors more, sweating more, running more, swimming more, sun-tanning (sun-burning?) more. Get outside, revel in the summer temps!

And nothing smells like summer more than a cook-out!  The smoky meat flavor wafts up and down the block – making the rest of us that you didn’t invite to your party even more HUNGRY!  Yet for me, a year-round griller, sometimes a nice braise hits the spot.  Why?  Cause I get a little tired of sweating over hot charcoal once in a while.

So what should you cook in the heat of summer?  Lots of experts offer cold food options for hot days – watermelon salads, cooled-off pasta dishes, simple sandwiches…but what’s the fun in that?  That brings us all to brisket.  When most folks think of brisket, it comes in 2 common forms:  the unbelievably succulent, tender, smoky, boldly spiced Texas-style brisket, or the more old style European version of the Jewish Deli classic: corned beef.  The foodies among you probably also grind it for burgers like every trendy restaurant that makes its own different beef grinds to stand out from the other burger joints.

My favorite way to prepare Brisket is to braise it with bourbon.  The Brisket is the breast of the cow, which means that it tends to be fatty.  You get to control that – trim off the fat if you want it leaner.  Otherwise, leave the fat on for some extra good flavor. Then braise it with bourbon.

Here’s the best part of making Brisket with Bourbon.  First, follow the instructions in my recipe below.  Then you stick it in the oven and do whatever you want for 3 and ½ hours and come back and it’s ready to eat!  That makes Brisket-time the best summertime food of all – you get to cook dinner while you’re poolside, or building a sandcastle at the beach, or going for a hot sweaty run, or taking out your boat, or doing any of the activities that make summertime feel like we’re in a hot, sweaty version of paradise.

Chef Bill’s Brisket RUB

1 Tbs    Colemans Mustard Powder

2 Tbs    Black Pepper

1  tsp    Ground Ginger

2  tsp    Ground Cumin

1  Tbs   Red Pepper Flakes

2  Tbs   Brown Sugar

1  Tbs  Ground Corriander

1  Tbs   Spanish Paprika

1  Tbs   Garlic Powder

1.5 Tbs Course Sea salt

1.       Trim Brisket section of all excess fat

2.       Mix all ingredients.

3.       Rub Brisket with olive oil

4.       Sprinkle generous amount of rub all over the brisket and massage in extra.

5.       Let sit overnight – tomorrow you braise it!