One of our absolute winners here at CJH is Chef Adrian's BBQ Brisket! The melt in your mouth brisket has had every cooking treatment under the sun - brining, spice and herb rub, smoking, slow roasting and BBQ-ing.

Time is also an ingredient- lots of it. It just shows the effort we go to here at CJH to create great food!

The recipe may seem daunting but for the seasoned BBQ enthusiasts,  it is a teddy bear’s picnic and well worth the effort.

The brining process ensures the brisket remains moist, while the spice rubs, smoking, and BBQ creates the amazing flavours, and finally, the time - well that's the thing that makes the normally tough joint of meat so soft and tender.

This July and August we are are hosting three Argentinian BBQ nights at Cloughjordan House - come and join us to try our famous beef brisket for yourself!

CJH BRINED, SMOKED & BBQ BEEF BRISKET

INGREDIENTS

2 kg of beef brisket well marbled with some fat on top 

For the brine

• 5 Lt of hot water

• 110g salt

• 110g sugar

• 110g brown sugar

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 3 star anise whole

• 1 tsp celery seeds

• 2 tsp fennel seeds

• 7 cloves

• 5 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp peppercorns

• 2.5 lt cold water 

For the rub

• 300g brown sugar

• 2 tbsp salt

• 2 tbsp fennel seeds

• 2 tbsp ground black pepper

• 2 tbsp chilli powder

• 2 tbsp coriander seed

• 1 tbsp ground ginger

• 5 cloves of garlic crushed

• 2 tsp celery seed

• 2 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 Lt apple Juice 

METHOD

• Mix all the brine ingredients together in a medium saucepan with  the hot water, bring to the boil ensuring the salt and sugar have melted

• Add to the cold water in a container large enough to fit the brisket and allow the mixture to cool fully

• Place the brisket in the container and leave in a fridge for up to 2 days

• Remove from the fridge and rinse the brine off under a cold tap and pat dry

• Mix all the rub ingredients together and coat the meat with the rub

• Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, and bring to room temperature

• Prepare the smoker with damp wood chips and bring to 110 deg C

• Smoke for up to 5 hours until the internal temperature of 75 deg C is reached

• Enclose the meat with a double layer of tin foil with the apple juice and roast in a low oven, 150 deg C for 2 hours, basting the meat occasionally. Test with a skewer - the meat is ready when it comes away easily when pierced

• BBQ over hot coals for 10 mins on each side

Et voila! Serve with coleslaw, a fresh garden salad and some crusty chunks of fresh baked bread to mop up all of those tasty meat juices.