Smoked Beef Brisket with Petite Sirah Sauce

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Beef Brisket with Petite Sirah Sauce

Here’s a recipe that came from out of nowhere: deliciously smoked, and fork tender beef brisket with a complimentary sauce made with favorite locally grown Petite Sirah from Odonata Winery. I also use this wine in the sauce, so be sure and order at least two bottles (one to cook with, and one to serve the brisket with.)

A happy accident really, I picked up a brisket prior to doing a little impromptu wine tasting, and one sip of this bad boy had my mouth watering just thinking of enjoying a smoked beef brisket with a glass of this full bodied red wine—it’s perfect for holiday entertaining (Hanukah, Christmas and New Year’s, I’m looking at you.) Side note: my husband joked that I shouldn’t recommend this as a Hanukkah recipe because the wine isn’t kosher, but then I recalled a conversation I had with his mother who basically told me if I ever gifted her (or anyone else in the family) kosher wine, I’d be disinvited to family functions.  

Like any delicious brisket recipe, this brisket is cooked over two days. The first day, it’s cooked low and slow: first smoked for about 3 hours, then transferred to the oven to be cooked for another 9 hours at an extremely low temperature. Low and slow is the name of the game. Once the brisket is cooked, it’s going to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or up to over night.

While the cook time of this smoked beef brisket may seem intimidating, it’s really not. Have confidence in your smoker (my husband loves his traeger), and oven. Since this is a very hands-free recipe, you can live your life while the meat is cooking: finish Christmas shopping, order that King of Christmas flocked tree you’ve been seeing all over social media, or get sucked into an 8-hour Hallmark movie marathon (the last one definitely applies in my situation.)

To finish off this delicious (and tender) brisket, you’re going to make a petite sirah sauce that transforms already delicious meat into a holiday dish that can (and should) become a new holiday tradition. A little bit of garlic, a diced onion, carrots, canned tomatoes and reserved pan drippings complete the sauce. 

Serve the brisket alongside mashed potatoes or cauliflower, pureed celery root, or even polenta and a generous serving of Odonata’s Peite Sirah! They ship to most states, and I promise, you won’t be disappointed any any of their wines, especially with their sparkling rosé. 

Smoked Beef Brisket with Petite Sirah Sauce

Recipe by Rae Goldman

Deliciously smoked, and fork tender beef brisket with a complimentary sauce made with a locally grown Petite Sirah, perfect for a special holiday dinner.

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 9 hours

Total time: 24 hours, including rest time

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

• 6-8 pound flat cut beef brisket, fat trimmed to a uniform 1/4"
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cups pan drippings
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes with liquid
• 2 cups Petite Sirah
• 2 small or 1 large dried bay leaf
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Cooking Directions

1. Remove brisket from packaging and generously season both sides with salt and pepper. It should resemble sand. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour to allow the salt to dissolve.
2. Start the Traeger on smoke with the lid open until the fire is established, about 5 minutes. Set the temperature to 160º and close lid to preheat for about 12 minutes.
3. Place brisket, fat cap down, on grill and smoke for 3-4 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 180º
5. Remove brisket from Traeger, tightly wrap in foil and place on a cookie sheet or on a rack in a roasting pan. (I have found that cooking it on a cookie sheet makes for more tender meat.) Continue cooking brisket for 6-8 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 203º. DO NOT OVERCOOK!!
6. Re-wrap brisket in clean foil and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to overnight. Reserve 1/4 cup pan drippings in a measuring cup -----> this can be messy.
7. In a large cast iron pan over medium heat, warm the grapeseed oil and reserved pan drippings. Sauté the yellow onion and carrots until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the canned tomatoes along with their juices, and the 2 cups of wine along with the bay leaf and bring to a simmer.
8. Preheat oven to 350º
9. Remove brisket from the refrigerator, and cut into thin slices against the grain. Add the dried cranberries to the sauce, and place the brisket in the pan, covering with the sauce and a sheet of foil. Transfer skillet to oven with the sauce and brisket to re-warm the brisket should be about 15 minutes.
10. Season with additional salt and pepper, and serve with a glass of Petite Sirah and enjoy.