Oven Roasted Beef Brisket

Did I ever have a disastrous time in the kitchen last night. I realized that my blog was missing some Asian cuisine. Although, I have a few really good recipes on-hand, I wanted to build my library. Didn’t quite work out the way I hoped it would. I spent 4 hours in the kitchen, only to end up saying, “it was edible.” Definitely nothing I would endorse on my blog. Too expensive, too much time and effort, and not even comparable to what you can get when ordering out. A total wash-out! Oh well, I guess an occasional bad cooking day is inevitable. I’ll put on my happy face today and start again. 

Now that I ranted, let’s get on with today’s taste treat. Obviously, I’ve led a very sheltered life (at least as far as food is concerned). I never had beef brisket before, that is, until this past weekend. I think I shied away from it because I heard it was a tough cut of meat (and I’m not fond of tough beef). Also, I assumed that brisket meant corned beef. Not so, although corned beef is a brisket, it is already brined in a lot of salt. Regular beef brisket is very similar to a pot roast. Our local grocery store was having a sale on beef brisket this past week, so I figured I would give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. I trimmed the excess fat off the brisket before cooking, as I didn’t want to lose the flavors of the rub. I slow roasted it for a total of 4 hours; and it was tender! No brining, no marinating, no crock pot, yet it came out unbelievably tender. The juices from the brisket (with added beef stock) made a perfect Au Jus to serve with the beef. Would I make this again?  Without hesitation. The next time it goes on sale, I’m all on-board! By the way, Mike is not usually a fan of rubs on meat, and he raved about the flavors in this rub. Even the first hour this was baking, the aromas were out of this world! By the fourth hour, we had forks in-hand at the oven door.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Trim excess fat off beef (optional). I say optional because some cooks prefer to leave the fat on, to seal in the juices. With a rub, however, I prefer to trim the beef of excess fat, so the rub is on the meat, not on the fat.

Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard and crushed bay leaf. (I used a mortar and pestle to crush the bay leaf.) Season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub. How much rub? That’s a matter of personal preference. I used all of the rub mix, because I wanted that rub flavor in every bite. (I can’t wait to try this rub on ribs!)

Place rubbed brisket in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. (Ratio of beef stock to water should be 50/50.) Lower oven temperature to 300° F. Cover pan tightly (with roasting pan lid, or aluminum foil) and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.

If you didn’t trim fat before roasting, trim off excess fat before serving. Slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan, or serve with pan juice on the side.

I think the only thing I might do different the next time is cook it longer at a lower temperature (to hold in more moisture, since I trimmed the fat before roasting). I'd do the first hour at 300° F., then reduce the temperature to 250° F. until fork-tender. But, as far as taste goes, I wouldn't change a thing.

OVEN ROASTED BEEF BRISKET
Source: Tom Perini, Pauladeen.com
Posted by: www.meldingmagic.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon sugar       
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• 4 to 5 pounds beef brisket
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock (or more, depending on size of your roasting pan)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Trim excess fat off beef (optional).
3. Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, sugar, dry
    mustard, and crushed bay leaf. Season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub. Place in a roasting
    pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
4. Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. (Ratio of beef
    stock to water should be 50/50.)  Lower oven temperature to 300° F. Cover pan tightly (with roasting
    pan lid, or aluminum foil) and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.
5. If you didn’t trim fat before roasting, trim off excess fat before serving. Slice meat thinly across the
    grain. Top with juice from the pan, or serve with pan juice on the side.

Yield: 10 servings
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 4 hours