Dry Rub Brisket in Gravy

Okay, I know, I know, I have a grand obsession with brisket. There’s a good reason for it, so bear with me. It can be served in an infinite number of ways, is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef and has a wonderful succulence when cooked properly.

A note – part of this post is a thank you and shout out to Yehuda Jacobs, known as the Israeli Foodie (he’s got a FB group of which I am an active participant and I’ve made some great FB friends there) and is a personal chef who has his own blog https://www.theisraelifoodie.com/ . He also is helpful to those who ask for advice. I had bought a smoker (a story for another time) and wanted a good spice rub for the brisket I planned to make. I asked Yehuda if he could share his dry rub recipe with me and boom, he did.

People, this is a rub you can use on everything from meat to chicken to fish. It’s truly awesome and it’s part of this recipe. I didn’t do this in the smoker, rather in the oven and there’s a sauce to boot, but this rub must stay on the brisket overnight. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!, but it’s so worth it. In addition, you then cook it in a sauce which adds an incredible depth to the flavor and a juiciness. Now with Passover coming up, when you want to go the extra mile for the holiday, this recipe works beautifully. For Passover, I omit the cumin (I know there are differing opinions but you go with your custom).

So gather your ingredients for the dry rub

Place your granulated garlic, dark brown sugar (no you can’t skip the sugar), onion powder, sweet paprika, salt, black pepper and cumin (I skip the cumin for Passover) in a bowl.

Even though this recipe is for two nice briskets, you may well have some dry rub left over. If you have leftover dry rub, squirrel it away in a container and you can use it on fish or chicken to accolades.

K. Mix it all well together.

Now get your two briskets ready, placing a sheet of parchment paper beneath each one and beneath the parchment a large piece of tinfoil and prepare a pan to place the briskets in. Remember, you aren’t cooking them yet, you will be wrapping them in the parchment paper and foil after rubbing them with the mixture and refrigerating them. K. Slather the briskets with the oil and take a few heaping tablespoons of mixture and sprinkle over the meat. Don’t use your hands to directly scoop out dry rub or you will contaminate the whole lot thereby being unable to save the leftover rub. Just sayin’.

Rub a dub dub into the brisket, don’t be shy, you will see the color of the spices darkening as they get rubbed into the oil on the meat. Make sure to rub the dry mix into both sides of the meat and then wrap thoroughly in the parchment paper, covering the brisket like a packet. Do this to the second brisket as well. On top of the parchment paper, wrap the briskets with tinfoil to seal them well. A note. Absolutely make two briskets. You may say to yourself, nah, small crowd whadda I need to make two for? Cuz, my friends, this freezes superbly and what I always do is prepare both, let them cool completely and slice, rewrap and freeze and boom you’re good to go for more than one meal. Ain’t it great? K. So now your briskets are rubbed and wrapped. Place in baking pan and pop into fridge.

Now you can make your gravy/sauce now, or wait till tomorrow since your brisket will now sit overnight in the fridge. If you choose to make the sauce right away, just cool and refrigerate along with the meat and the next day you will be good to go.

Take the meat out of the fridge to get to room temp while you prepare your gravy/sauce and now preheat the oven to 325 F/165 C.

In a large pan, place the oil and chopped onion and sautee until golden brown, not too dark. Add the chopped celery and red bell pepper and continue to cook for about four minutes.

Now add the chopped garlic and saute briefly. Add the vinegar, date syrup (silan) and the boiling water with the onion soup mix. Stir well and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce into a pan (or two pans if you cook the briskets separately) and submerge the briskets into the sauce. Cover the pans with two layers of foil and seal well. Place the pans in the preheated oven and cook for at least 3 hours. Check the meat to see if tender. It may well need another 30 minutes to an hour till fully tender. Let rest about 1/2 an hour once removed from oven. Slice the brisket and either serve right away, with the gravy (awesome with mashed potatoes) or rewrap and freeze with sauce till needed.

Dry Rub Brisket in Gravy

2 four-five pound (or two 2 kilo) briskets

Canola (or Olive or Walnut Oil for Passover)

Dry rub:

2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup paprika
1/3 cup granulated garlic powder
1/3 cup granulated onion powder
1/4 cup salt
2 Tsp ground black pepper
2 Tsp cumin (omit for Passover if not your custom)

For the Sauce:

1-2 tablespoons vegetable, olive or canola oil

1 large chopped onion
1 cup or 2 stalks chopped celery

1 small chopped red bell pepper

4 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoons rice or balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons date syrup or silan
4 cups boiling water with 5 tablespoons onion soup mix

Directions:

Rub briskets all over with the oil. Make the dry rub by mixing in a nice sized bowl the brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper and cumin. Scoop a handful of dry rub with a tablespoon or clean hands (you will probably have leftover rub and you won’t want to contaminate it, so use a spoon if you “double dip”) and rub into the briskets on both sides. Wrap in parchment paper and then cover each brisket individually with foil. Place in roasting pan and put in fridge overnight.

Next day let meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, unwrapped. Preheat oven to 325 F/165 C.

In a pan sauté the chopped onions till golden brown and add the celery and chopped pepper sautéing for about 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, tablespoon of vinegar and Silan and stir into vegetables and slowly add liquid with onion soup mix. Cook about 5 minutes.

Unwrap brisket. Pour sauce carefully into roasting pan. Submerge brisket in liquid.

Cover tightly with 2 layers of foil on top of pan. Place brisket in oven and bake for about 3 hours. Remove from oven and check how soft meat is. If not fully tender continue cooking covered with the foil for about 30 minutes to 1 more hour or until completely tender. Allow meat to rest about 30 minutes before slicing. This freezes beautifully, so I usually rest, slice, and freeze with gravy and wrap well till I need it.