Texas Beef Brisket
The process of barbecuing a brisket is intimidating the first time but if you do it once, you'll wonder what the worry was all about. You need to start with the best quality meat, if you go low quality, you may end up wasting your time. Wagyu is the best type of beef for a brisket. After that, it's really just a matter of being patient. Beef brisket is a labour of love or in fact patience.
I tasked Mr NQN with making sure that the bbq remained at a constant temperature of 107C/224F which is a task in itself. He was kept company by Coco the adorable 98 year old one eyed pug.
I can't tell you how relieved I was that the brisket worked and that it was every bit as good as I remember it to be. I'm not going to take on any of the long standing pit houses of Texas but in lieu of taking the 20 something hour flight there, it's a little bit of Texas at home.
Preparation time: 5 minutes (buy a dry aged brisket for a better flavour)
Cooking time: 7 hours (approximately)
Resting time: 1 hour
Feeds 6 along with sides
- 2 kgs wagyu beef brisket, fat part (you can also do the lean but the fat is where the flavour is)
- 1.5 cups mesquite wood chips, soaked for at least 1 hour in water
- a few tablespoons of oil for smearing over the beef
- 1.5 tablespoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder (I used 1 tablespoon from a packet of French onion soup)
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (1 teaspoon if you don't like it too spicy)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup of beef stock
Step 1 - Dry age the beef if you can or at least buy a wet aged piece of beef. Ageing allows the enzymes to break down the beef making it more tender. I prefer dry aged for the flavour but wet aging will also make it tender.
Step 2 - Combine the pepper, salt, onion powder, sugar, cayenne and garlic powder to make a rub. Rub the brisket with oil and then smother it on both sides with the rub.
Step 3 - Preheat the bbq to 107C/224F. Create a packet out of foil and add a handful of soaked wood chips to it. Close up the sides and poke a couple of holes in it. When smoke starts appearing, place the brisket fat side up in a foil oven tray to the side or above the smoke. Smoke for 2.5 hours. Replace the foil packette once the smoke disappears - we replaced it once during the smoking time.
Step 4 - When the meat reaches 65C/149F pour the beef stock over the brisket and allow it to pool under the brisket. Cover tightly with foil and bbq still on 107C/224F until the internal temperature reaches 95C/203F. This "crutches" the brisket. This is a process that speeds up cooking the brisket and locks the moisture into the meat. A 2 kilo brisket is fantastic because it is manageable and cooks in a good amount of time but it also risks being dried out so we wanted to keep it moist. It will take up to five or six hours to reach the desired temperature.
Step 5 - Remove the tray from the bbq and wrap tightly in more foil. Place in a styrofoam container with a lid and rest for 1 hour. After an hour, it will still be warm. Slice against the grain and serve while still warm with the jus from the pan.
Texas Blue Cheese Slaw
Although we absolutely loved the bbq in Texas, Belinda and I weren't as taken with the side dishes. They were very sweet and at times, we craved fresh salads to go with the coleslaw. We decided on two versions of classic brisket accompaniments, a Texan Blue Cheese Coleslaw and a fabulous potato salad - a staple at any Texan barbecue.
- 4 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 1/2 cup diced red capsicum
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- 1 cup Greek natural yogurt
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 75g/2.65 ozs. blue cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Step 1 - In a large bowl combine the cabbage, green onions, capsicum and dill. In a food processor blend the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, honey and blue cheese. Mix the dressing into the cabbage and then season with salt and pepper. Chill until serving.
Texas Potato Salad
Belinda's step mother made an almost identical version of this salad for her while she was growing up even down to the sweet pickle relish. It's a fabulous potato salad and one of the hallmarks of a Texan potato salad is said to be the addition of mustard.
- 6 large potatoes, skin on and cooked until tender in their skins and then peeled
- 3 eggs, hard boiled, cooled and peeled*
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/4 cup chopped red capsicum
- 2 tablespoons American mustard
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
*Use older eggs for easy peeling, younger eggs will be harder to peel.
Step 1 - Cool potatoes and cut into bite sized chunks. Slice eggs and break up with a fork.
Step 2 - In a large bowl, add the potatoes, eggs, onion, celery and capsicum. Whisk together the mustard, mayonnaise and relish and add to salad and mix well. Sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until chilled.
Grilled Corn in Silks
This was really an experiment with some corn. I bought some corn cobs with the silk and husk on at Woolworths one day and thought that we could try cooking it in the husk and silk. While it takes about 45 minutes (we learn this accidentally as we asked Tery and Mr NQN to do this and they kept forgetting about it) it is absolutely worth cooking it this way.
Once we sank our teeth into the corn we all tacitly agreed that this would be the only way that we would be cooking corn from now on. The husks and silks keep the corn moist while the barbecue intensifies the sweetness and natural flavour of the corn. And they're incredibly easy to peel once cooked and the instead of trying to catch flywaway bits of silk which you do when it is raw, the silks come away in great big clumps. Plus it looks great with the husks peeled back too ;)
- Corn in husks or silk
- Butter and salt to serve
Step 1 - Soak the corn in water in the husks for an hour. Preheat bbq to 300C/572F. Place corn on the bbq and grill turning it a few times during the process so that it cooks evenly. It took about 45 minutes in total but check that your corn is golden and fragrant by peeling back the husk a little. Remove the most charred outer husk layers as they will disintegrate easily and then pull back the silks and remaining husk layers. Serve with butter and salt.
Texas Toast
Texas Toast is generally white bread toast sprinkled with garlic salt and buttered. Belinda decided to add cheese to her version in homage to one of her favourite items, the Sizzler cheese toast. Funnily, her daughter Mia was horrified when she picked up the white loaf at the supermarket, alarmed that it was destined for her lunchbox. It's easy but delicious and perfect to go with the brisket and jus!
Serves 6
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes
- 6 slices white supermarket loaf
- Butter to spread (about 1/2 a cup)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- garlic salt to sprinkle on top
Step 1 - Butter both sides of the bread and add parmesan cheese and garlic salt to one side. Grill cheese side up. Turn over and add the parmesan cheese and garlic salt on the other side and grill that side too.
White Peach Bellini Cobbler
One afternoon Belinda and I were talking about what dessert to make for the bbq. We decided on peach cobbler as peaches are in season but wanted to do a twist on it. And that Dear Readers is how peach bellini cobbler was born. The peaches (which were quite underripe) were lightly browned and then cooked in a mixture of Prosecco, sugar and vanilla bean extract. You can stop right there and serve the peaches with ice cream or you can make a cobbler topping which is very easy. I even had six year old Ruby help me with it which delighted her.
Serves 8 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes plus 35 minutes
- 8-9 large free stone white peaches (I placed them in the tray that I was cooking them in to see if they would fit)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup Prosecco
- 6 tablespoons caster or superfine sugar
- vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- Vanilla ice cream to serve
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and grease a medium baking tray (I used a 24x32cms one). Sliced peaches into eights leaving the skin on (you can peel them but the skin becomes soft once cooked) and removing the pit.
Step 2 - Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frypan on medium to high heat and add the peaches. Brown the peaches lightly on all sides and then add the prosecco and cook it off. Then add the other tablespoon of butter along with the sugar and vanilla and stir until the peaches are coated in a delicious sauce. Remove from heat.
Step 3 - Make the cobbler topping. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and with your fingers, rub the butter so that you get crumbs. You want to avoid really large lumps but small lumps are fine.
Step 4 - Beat the egg with the milk and then pour into the bowl and mix the batter until combined. Top the peaches with this batter and then bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.