Brisket was on sale for around $2.50 a pound so I thought I’d make some things with brisket. I haven’t made a pastrami in a while so I was thinking I’d make a pastrami again. I’ve been to a few of celebrity chef Richard Blais’s restaurants that were really great. I also thought a few of his recipes I followed were really great so I wondered how he would make a pastrami. I did a search for Richard Blais Pastrami on the internet and it lead me to a Richard Blais Brisket Recipe from www.seriouseats.com . It’s very different from the way I’d typically make a brisket so I wanted to give it a try. Half of my brisket will be a pastrami and my other half will be a Richard Blais Style Brisket. I love the aggressive spices and how easy this recipe is. I didn’t have the correct mustard at home for this recipe so I substituted something different that I thought would work. The recipe calls for yellow mustard but I thought Pommery Mustard Royal Cognac might be tasty and I added a dollop of Amora Extra Forte. These are both exceptional mustards. The Amora has this horseradish sort of twang to it and the Pommery is just delicious. They have a completely different taste than yellow mustard so the results will differ. The recipe makes 6-10 portions.

Ingredients for around 8 portions

One 3-4 lb brisket – preferably fatty end

1/4 cup coriander seeds – cracked (I put in spice mill and stopped before powder)

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

2 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup brown sugar – packed (I used dark brown)

1/3 cup yellow mustard (I used Pommery Mustard Royal Cognac and a dollop of Amora Extra Forte)

Directions

In a small mixing bowl mix together the coriander, salt, black pepper, paprika and cayenne and set to the side.

Rinse brisket with cold water and blot dry with towels. Season the brisket with the spices from the small mixing bowl.

Heat the oil in a big fry pan on medium high heat.

Sear the brisket on all sides till brown. When done put the brisket on a pan to cool and rest and lightly cover it. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

Set oven to 300 degrees F and have a middle rack ready for the brisket.

Make the brisket paste. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar with the mustard.

Make an extra large aluminum blanket out of two large aluminum sheets. (you put one sheet on top of the other and fold up the long bottom end slightly and open to seal up the brisket (once it is slathered up with mustard paste).

Slather up the brisket with the mustard paste. You are suppose to use all the paste.

Seal up brisket with the foil….Make sure that it won’t leek. (somehow I screwed up and mine did leek some….)

This goes on a roasting rack in a pan on the middle rack of your oven for up to 10 hours in your pre-heated 300 degree F oven.

I couldn’t see what way the grain goes and I accidentally cut it the wrong way but it still was good. The rest I cut better.

It is suggested to serve with mashed potatoes. Tightly wrapped leftovers should stay fresh for about a week.

Here is mine cold.

Above is a cold piece that was re-heated in a 350 degree F oven with some water and the cauliflower on a covered baking sheet on the lower rack for around 30 minutes. Came out really great that way. The water with all the flavoring on the meat made a nice juice for the brisket.

Enjoy!

A special THANKS! to Richard Blais for another amazing recipe and also to www.SeriousEats.com for posting this great recipe.