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Chef Boy First To Win!

Yes, it’s official. After hundreds of submissions, thousands of hours in the Club Roscoe Test Kitchens, Chef Boy’s recipe for brisket, affectionately called “Shark Bait” for it’s indication of size (big), and it’s tendency to attract carnivores.

The Sauce Makes It

No offense to any brisket lovers out there, but we didn’t think this recipe had a chance, because, well… brisket is brisket, sometimes dry, sometimes bland (that’s why they invented pastrami). At best it’s, well… brisket. But since Chef Boy is one of the most loyal members of Club Roscoe (we’re thinking of making him West Coast liaison, we’re just not sure yet if he can handle the responsibility), and known in his part of the country for cooking meat to perfection, we did our due diligence and followed the recipe, and we’re glad we did. Even without the finishing touches of mustard and horseradish, the juice was great. But once we added those ingredients, it became sauce… and out of this world kind of good. Don’t be surprised if you see this on the Food Network somewhere (under a different name, of course), with Rachael or Emeril trying to take credit for it.

But What Does He Win?

Since this is the first Recipe of the Month winner for Club Roscoe, we wanted this to be special… Chef Boy will not only get an official Cookin’WithRoscoe apron (whenever we make them), but he will also get an All Expenses Paid Trip through downtown Flint! So come on out to Michigan, Chef Boy, you’re in for a treat. And if that goes well (how can it not? we hear there’s a good hot dog stand in Flint), we’ll even take you to Ernie’s. Congratulations!

Now Here’s The Recipe

Presented In Chef Boy’s Own Words:

As promised, here is the recipe for some delicious brisket sandwiches – they brought rave reviews at a recent poker game. In fact, this is good poker food, as they don’t require much of the chef’s time after the meat is started.

Shark Bait

2 T vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
one 4-to-5 pound brisket
2 medium onions, coarsly chopped
1 small can tomato paste
4 C beef broth (I used half beer and half beef broth)
Optional: hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce to taste (I used a sauce called Pick-a-pepper, a Worcestershire-like sauce)
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T Dijon mustard
12 hard rolls (Kaiser or Portuguese)

Heat the oven to 325. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof pan over medium heat. Season the brisket with salt and pepper, then brown it slowly on all sides. Take your time, and get it nice and brown. Remove the brisket from the pan and let it rest.

Saute the onions to a golden brown in the pan. When almost done, add the tomato paste, hot sauce (if used) and Worcestershire or Pick-a-pepper sauce (if used) and stir in. Allow to cook down for a few minutes and return the brisket to the pan. Add your liquids of choice to barely cover the meat.

Return the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pan and place in the oven to cook for about 2-1/2 hours. Uncover the pan and cook for another half-hour. The meat should be very tender.

Remove the brisket to a carving board, cover with foil, and allow it to rest.

Heat the pan with cooking liquids on the stove over high heat to a fast boil. Reduce the liquid by half to thicken. Whisk in the prepared horseradish and mustard (and a little more hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce or Pick-a-pepper sauce to taste). Transfer to a bowl or gravy boat.

Slice the rolls and lay brisket slices on the bottoms. Either pour the sauce over the meat, or allow your guests to sauce their own sandwiches to taste. Add mustard or other condiments to taste.

Serve the sandwiches with a dill pickle spear, thick-cut potato chips and a nice lager.

Makes 12 sandwiches.