You'll need a charcoal barbecue and a meat thermometer to make this
September 2, 2016 08:45Byben tish, Ben Tish
You will need a charcoal barbecue and a meat thermometer to make this. Prague Powder No 1 is a salt cure that is not essential, but helps the colour. It is available on Amazon.
Ingredients
For the brine
● 3 litres water
● 300g table salt
● 125g sugar
● 2 cloves garlic, crushed
● 2 bay leaves
● 2 cloves
● 20g mixed spices - allspice, juniper, coriander, cumin
● 20g Prague powder No 1 (optional but recommended)
For the pastrami rub
● About 1.2-1.3 kg good brisket - unrolled and flat
● 50ml runny honey
● 25ml dark treacle
● 1 tbsp coriander seeds
● 1 tbsp black peppercorns
For the horseradish
● 50g freshly grated horseradish
● ½ tsp table salt
● ½ tsp caster sugar
● 85ml quality red wine vinegar
Method
● To brine: bring all the brine ingredients to the boil for a couple of minutes and then cool.
● Place the brisket in a large freezer bag and then double it with another. Stand it up so the opening is on top and then pour in the honey and treacle and ladle in the brine. Expel any air from the bag and then seal and place on a tray in the fridge for 5 days, turning twice daily.
● After the 5 days remove the brisket from the brine and pat dry. Crush the coriander seeds and black peppercorns, and massage into the meat.
● Set up a barbecue for hot smoking with plenty of charcoal and with a lump of soaked hard wood left to smoke on the side. Place the brisket to the side of the fire - ensuring there's plenty of smoke - and cook until the meat reaches 73°C internal temp. Remove from the barbecue and cool.
● Heat an oven to 120°C. Place the brisket on a rack over an oven tray with some water in the bottom. Wrap everything loosely in foil (to create a tent-like structure) and place in the oven for between 3 and 4 hours, until the pastrami is so soft that you can cut it with a spoon.
● Meanwhile, make the fast-pickled horseradish: sprinkle the horseradish with the salt and sugar. Leave for 10 mins, stir well and pour over the vinegar. Pickle for at least 20 minutes.
● Cool the pastrami before slicing thinly and serving in rye bread.
Ben Tish is chef director at Salt Yard Group