All Sun Valley Magazine Sun Valley Home and Design

  32.0F  |  Forecast »

Blogs / yum! / Summer 2010 / Happy Birthday America

yum!

A blog about food

Happy Birthday America

Happy Fourth weekend, everyone! For me, the Fourth is reminiscent of Thanksgiving in a way (minus the football but with the addition of cool fireworks). A get-together that is all about happiness, counting one's blessings, celebrating our freedom and eating. Lots of eating. Every year my grandmother plans a huge party at her house (on a small lake in north Louisiana) and it was something I looked forward to and counted down the days like it was my own birthday celebration. Stuffing myself on southern delicacies while tolerating the mid-summer Louisiana heat until it was too much—and then a quick dip in the cool lake before diving back in for seconds on the grub. I just got off the phone with my mom who was going through the list of yummies planned this year: deviled eggs, potato salad, apple pie. All the necessities. But one of the things she mentioned caught my fancy and I asked for the recipe asap. There are GREAT meat specials at the grocery stores - so jump out there. grab a brisket, and get ready to get your Fourth grill on.

Mom’s Oven-Smoked Brisket

Mrs. Malcom Sevier and Mrs. Jim Folk, long-time neighbors and family friends in Tallulah, submitted the original recipe in the Cotton Country.

All the preparation notes and the compilation of ingredients are my own.

MOM’S NOTE: (this is an important recipe note):  Brisket is a 3-day affair that may be done in 2 days. Also, get the “trimmed” brisket if available. It may look too expensive comparatively, but if your get the “untrimmed” you end up with very little meat and you lose on $/#.  With the “trimmed” brisket, you’ll still have a tick layer of fat to trim.

INGREDIENTS:
9-12 lb "Trimmed” beef brisket
3 bottles chili sauce: store brand ok
2 envelopes dry onion soup mix
1 can Coke
1 bottle liquid smoke (you use only 2T.)
Lea & Perrins (again you use only 2T.)
Ketchup
Brown Sugar
2-3 large onions, sliced
1 bottle BBQ sauce
½ C. red wine (optional)
Kaiser Rolls or buns
Cole Slaw
Garlic powder
Black pepper

Marinade:
In large measuring cup, mix together:
2 bottles chili sauce
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can Coke

Meat preparation:
Slice off some (not all) of the thick layer of fat from the fatty side of the brisket.
Remove any thick strands of fat running through the meat without cutting the meat into pieces.
Rinse meat, pat dry.
Optional: you may stuff the meat with garlic cloves, too.
Put meat in 2 gal. Ziplock bag
Cover with marinade.
Marinate at least 24hours. (May marinate up to 72 hours).

To cook:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees
Spray large roaster pan with cooking spray
Position meat fatty side up
Sprinkle w/:
Garlic powder
Black pepper
2T. each liquid smoke and Lea & Perrins
Sliced onions:  cover the top well with 2-3 onions. The more the better.

Mix together:
½ C. red wine (optional)
½ C. brown sugar (packed)
½ C. ketchup
½ C. chili sauce (or you may use 1 C. ketchup total here)
Drizzle over meat and onions
Cover with lid to roaster or with foil
Bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours
Take out of oven and remove lid
Pour 1 bottle BBQ sauce over meat, covering well
Cook uncovered for 1 hour more

To cool meat and sauce:
Let cool in the pan.
Remove meat from large roaster and put into medium size roaster to fit in your refrigerator.
Pour about 2-3 cups of sauce from pan over meat to keep moist.
Cover with large, heavy-duty foil and put in refrigerator.
Pour the remaining 4 or so cups of sauce into a dish with a lid.
Be sure to put any thickened sauce from the bottom of the pan in also.
Cover and put in refrigerator overnight to let fat come to the surface.
The next day, remove fat from top of sauce.
May be sliced thin for sandwiches and reheated in the sauce or served as a “slice yourself” style presentation.

To serve sandwiches:
Kaiser Rolls
Cole Slaw
Warmed sauce from meat
Warmed sliced meat

This is delicious and serves a lot of people.
It’s also great for other roasts that need to cook long and slow, i.e. a Boston butt pork roast.