Grilled Canadian Beef Brisket
Born, raised and living in Toronto, I take a lot of pride in my Canadian roots. From a culinary perspective I take great care to ensure I take the time to appreciate the incredible bounty of this great nation. From our agricultural resources, to the cuisine of various regions, and our marvelous chefs – we have been truly blessed.
When I heard the fine folks at Canadian Beef were having a contest dubbed ‘Who Rules the Grill?’ (twitter: #whorulesthegrill), I knew I would definitely be pulling something special out of my hat for this one. I reached into my pantry and fridge and constructed a truly Canadian Beef Brisket. Montreal steak spice, beer, maple syrup, mellow ground coffee, all help to lend this brisket its Canadian charm.
The resulting dish has a beautiful crust, almost like a pastrami or smoked meat, with good bite. The meat is melt in your mouth tender having steamed on the grill in both beer and maple syrup. The flavours blend together into a truly unique Canadian Beef dish.
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Grilled Canadian Beef Brisket
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
1 Canadian Beef Brisket single point (approx 1 kg)
1/4 cup pure Canadian maple syrup
1 bottle Canadian beer
2 tablespoons olive oil
Dry rub:
2 tablespoons, fine ground Canadian coffee
2 tablespoons Montreal steak spice
3/4 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup quality barbecue sauce, for serving
Preparation:
- In a small bowl mix the dry rub ingredients together.
- Preheat grill on Low heat and prepare for indirect cooking. I like to light the outside burners on low and place a foil pan of water under the grates to separate the heat source from the beef and catch any drippings.
- Trim any excess fat from the brisket, rub with olive oil, and then rub liberally with dry rub.
- Place the brisket away from the heat source and cook until the rub is just caramelized, about 90 minutes, flipping every 30 minutes.
- Pour the beer into a large foil pan, and add the brisket. Glaze with maple syrup, and cover tightly with foil. Still using indirect heat, roast on the grill for one hour. Grill temperature should be 300-325 F.
- Remove the brisket from the grill and prepare the grill for direct cooking on high heat. Put the brisket directly on the grill to sear, about 2 minutes per side.
- Remove brisket from grill, slice and serve alongside barbecue sauce. Enjoy!
Filed under: Recipe on May 30th, 2011
Wow! This looks and sounds wonderful! I am going to try this one with my Israeli beef brisket. Did you win the contest???
mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Arica – I know Israeli beef can sometimes be a little tough. You may want to marinate it the night before in the beer to help break it down a little bit. A bit of fat on the meat will help – and you will want to cook the beef to an internal temperature of about 205 F. This is well past what you would normally cook beef to, but with a tough brisket this will hopefully break it down and soften it.
Being a Canadian griller and cooker myself, maple syrup and beer are two of my favourite ingredients. HOWEVER, I don’t think I’ve ever put the two together in the same dish. Now i’m asking myself, “Why on earth not???” The combination just has to be fantastic. Can’t wait to try it!
[…] What better place to launch our voyage than from Shediac NB, the lobster capital of the world and home to Parlee beach, which boasts some of the warmest waters north of Virginia. Meeting up with Shediac Bay Cruises on one of their boats we learned all about the Acadian culture and its history with lobster fishing. Ron Cormier, who runs the business with his wife Denise, has been catching lobster for three decades. He eagerly shares his passion on his tours by explaining all about lobsters, catching and eating them – the Acadian way. Acadians were French settlers who originally came and inhabited much of the modern day Maritimes & Quebec. Many were expelled by the British and returned to France or moved to Louisiana as Cajuns. Today, the Acadians are proud inhabitants of East Coast Canada, and many homes sport the Acadian star quite prominently on the outer walls of their homes. The kids had a great time dragging lobster traps up onto the boat, and Ron even talked Ali and Isabella into kissing the first catch of the day, as per tradition. The following day marked the biggest test on this trip so far for both the kids and me. We drove from Moncton to Quebec City; a seven-plus hour drive. That is a lot of driving in one day, and the kids really rose to the occasion. There is no question the in-car entertainment systems were a huge help – but regardless, they could have made the long journey even longer if they had not been really great. Fortunately the travelling-gods were smiling upon me and it went off without a hitch. Following our long trek to Quebec City we made our way back towards Montreal, as we’d short-changed her a bit on our way east. Along the way we stopped in at Cabane a sucre Chez Dany (maple sugar shack). Here the kids got to see how maple syrup has been harvested and made for generations in Quebec, and to sample some of the golden goodness. Once in Montreal we made our way to the old port for a very modern take on cooking classes. Hidden away among the cobbled streets of Old Montreal, Ateliers & Saveurs has been turning heads in the city’s culinary circles. A new concept in cooking schools, they are open to the public for drop-in cooking and wine classes at very reasonable prices. The kids and I took part in a lunch-time cooking class with Chef Benoit Fiemeyer and a couple of other students. In about 30 minutes we peeled, chopped, seared and plated our way towards an absolutely delicious dish of salmon served atop a diced salad of mango, avocado, onion and tomato all served on a plate lovingly decorated with balsamic vinegar by the kids. It was a lot of fun and a really cool way to spend a lunch hour or evening! Also, the results were nothing short of delicious. Just across town we headed for Marche Jean Talon and a tour of one of Montreal’s many farmer’s markets. The markets in Montreal do their utmost to remove the middleman from the market equation. In other cities you will often find market stands run by third parties; in Montreal most of the vendors are the farmers or their families selling directly to the consumers. Anything from Quebec proudly sports a fleur-de-lis sign. In addition, Montrealers have a number of other opportunities to purchase farm-fresh food. Many of the city’s subway stations have fruit and vegetable markets on site, and in the summer months, city bikes known as Fruixis go to communities throughout the cities selling fresh produce. The following morning before leaving Quebec we headed to Laval. There we met up with Samuel Ouimet and his mother Suzanne Latour to learn how their family’s goat farm has quickly become known as one of Quebec’s leading goat cheese makers. At La Fromagerie du Vieux St. Francois we learned how the goats are raised and cared for and how their milk is then lovingly turned into artisan cheeses. The farm has recently opened a small museum to show visitors how their small operation runs. Last year, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal chose this goat farm to make the hotel’s signature cheeses for the legendary Beaver Club. This was done as part of the hotel’s ongoing commitment to supporting local cuisine and small artisan producers. The Beaver Club’s Chef Martin Paquet uses the goat cheese in a variety of dishes to complement the restaurant’s renowned cuisine. I definitely recommend that you stop in to try some of their delicious cheese. All-in-all, while there was a lot of driving on this leg of the trip, it was certainly worthwhile to see what delicious stops we could find on our way from Moncton to Montreal! For my Moncton to Montreal inspired recipe, try this tasty recipe for Grilled Canadian Beef Brisket. […]