by Nick Zukin
Add 3 quarts ice-cold water to a 2-gallon or larger food-safe container that will fit in your refrigerator. Pour the brine into the container and place the container, uncovered, in the refrigerator until completely cool.
Trim the fat from the brisket until the fat layer is about ¼ inch thick. Submerge the brisket in the cooled brine, cutting it into two pieces, if needed, to submerge it.
Allow the brisket to brine for 5 days, flipping it daily top to bottom and stirring the brine. Make sure that if any of the brisket sides are touching one another you regularly turn them away from each other to expose all of the sides to the brine.
To prepare the brisket for smoking, mix together the coriander and pepper in a small bowl. Evenly rub ¼ cup of the spice mixture onto the top of the brisket, then flip the brisket and rub the remaining spice mixture onto the fatty side. Allow the brisket to come to room temperature, about 2 hours.
In an outdoor smoker or barbecue grill, smoke the meat at 225°F for 6 to 8 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to 175°F. Oak, maple, pecan, hickory, or fruitwoods may be used, depending on availability and preference. Avoid mesquite, as it gives a harsh flavor to long-smoked meats.
Preheat the oven to 300°F with a rack low enough to fit the pan holding the brisket. Tightly cover the brisket and pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Bake until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 200°F, 1½ to 2 hours.
Without trimming the fat, carve the pastrami into ¼-inch-thick slices, or cut as thin as possible without the meat falling apart. Keep tightly wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
Corned Beef Tongue
Makes about 3 pounds
Appearances can be deceiving. Though the sight of a whole beef tongue can be repellent to those who have never cooked one before, the payoff is as handsome as the first encounter can be disconcerting. Prepared properly, tongue has an incomparably delicate, yielding texture and mild, beefy flavor. There is none of the “mineral taste” often associated with organ meat such as liver. No wonder beef tongue, especially corned as in this recipe, has been a Jewish deli favorite for generations. It is likewise a popular protein in Mexican cooking, known as lengua. A meat injector is a useful tool to have for this recipe. It allows the brine’s flavor to penetrate deeply into the dense-grained meat. Meat injectors can be found at hunting supply and gourmet kitchen stores.
Brine
1½ cups kosher salt
¼ cup (2 ounces) pink salt (see Sources and Resources)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon pickling spice
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons whole yellow mustard seeds
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (2½- to 3½-pound) whole beef tongue
1 tablespoon whole yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon pickling spice
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
¼ cup kosher salt
To make the brine, place the kosher and pink salts, brown sugar, pickling spice, coriander and mustard seeds, garlic, bay leaves, and crushed red pepper, along with 3 quarts water, in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
While the brine is heating, add 3 quarts ice water to a 2-gallon or larger food-safe container that will fit in your refrigerator.
Once the brine comes to a boil, pour it into the food-safe container with the ice water. Stir the diluted brine until all the ice melts. Once the liquid cools to room temperature, add the tongue. (At this point, if you have a meat injector, inject the thicker part of the tongue with approximately 6 ounces of the brine.) Use a small plate to keep the tongue submerged in the brine. Refrigerate for 5 days, rotating the tongue top to bottom every day.
Rinse the tongue thoroughly and place it in a large stockpot with 6 quarts water or enough to cover the tongue by 2 inches or more. Discard the brine. Add the mustard and coriander seeds, pickling spice, bay leaves, garlic, and salt to the pot and bring the contents to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, until tender. Tongue is very dense, so it is difficult to judge its tenderness. Pull it from the brine and slice a piece off the thickest end to test it. Using a clean kitchen towel for added grip and protection, peel away the thick skin from the upper part of the still warm tongue.
Tongue can be served warm or cold, in sandwiches or on its own. Keep tightly wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
Rare Roast Beef
Makes 3½ pounds
In Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, perfectly Protestant Annie orders her deli sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato as Allen’s quintessentially Jewish character casts a sidelong glance of bemused revulsion. But for all its focus on traditional Ashkenazic dishes, the Jewish deli has equally been a place of warm hospitality for all. Roast beef is not a dish with roots in the Slavic shtetls; it was too expensive. But it is a long-standing deli standard offering a tamer alternative to the more vibrant varieties of deli meat such as pastrami and tongue. The round roast called for in this recipe is very lean, so overcooking will result in dry, tough meat. Be sure to use a meat thermometer and remove the beef from the oven at 115°F for rare or 120°F medium-rare. The internal temperature of the roast will rise another 10°F or so as it rests.
1 (3½-pound) eye of round roast
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1½ teaspoons yellow mustard powder
1½ teaspoons ground fennel
1½ teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pat the beef dry with paper towels and rub it all over with the olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, fennel, paprika, and pepper. Sprinkle the beef on all sides with the spice mixture and rub it in well. Refrigerate the beef covered overnight or for at least 8 hours to marinate.
At least 1 hour before roasting, remove the beef from the refrigerator to allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 275°F.
Roast the beef until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 100°F, 40 to 50 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 500°F and continue roasting until it registers 115°F and the outside is browned and crusty, about 15 minutes longer. (For an even crustier exterior, put it under the broiler for the last 3 to 5 minutes of cooking.)
Allow the beef to rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing. (To keep roast beef as juicy as possible, it is always best to let it cool completely before cutting into it.) Store the beef, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Pastrami Reuben Sandwich
Makes 4
Ah . . . the Reuben. Eating one at Kenny & Zuke’s is practically a religious experience: pastrami (subbing for classic corned beef), sauerkraut, and Swiss on fresh-baked rye bread slathered with sweet-tangy Russian dressing, grilled to warm, melty transcendence. The delicious (literally) irony is that the Reuben has become synonymous with Jewish deli grub even though its shameless combination of meat and dairy would have disqualified it from the kosher menus that dominated the early New York City Jewish deli scene. Competing claims attribute the early twentieth-century invention of the Reuben to either serial New York City restaurateur Arnold Reuben or Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born, poker-playing Omaha, Nebraska, grocer. We’d arrange a debate, but both claimants are long deceased. For those without a griddle large enough to handle f
our sandwiches at once, finished ones can be held in a 200°F oven while the others are being heated.
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened, plus more as needed
8 slices Classic Deli Sandwich Rye
12 ounces Swiss cheese, sliced
1½ pounds hand-sliced pastrami
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
½ cup Russian Dressing
Heat a large griddle over medium heat. Generously butter a slice of the bread and set it butter side down on the griddle. Repeat with 3 more slices of bread. Divide the Swiss cheese equally between the bread slices on the griddle. Next add equal portions of the pastrami, about two layers of slices, to each sandwich. Next add ¼ cup of the sauerkraut to each. Finally, dress the remaining 4 slices of bread with 2 tablespoons of Russian dressing each and place the bread, dressing side down, on the grilling sandwiches. Place a baking sheet weighted with something heavy, such as cans of food or a cast-iron skillet, on top of the sandwiches to press their contents together. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the bottoms of the sandwiches are well crisped and dark golden brown.
Remove the baking sheet. Generously butter the tops of each of the sandwiches and carefully flip them one by one using a large pancake turner. A second turner or spatula pressed firmly against the top of the sandwich as you flip it will make the job much easier. If some of the cheese or meat slips out, just shove it back into the sandwich. Place the weighted baking sheet back on top of the sandwiches and cook them for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the underside is crisp and dark.
Transfer the sandwiches to a cutting board and cut diagonally with a very sharp or serrated knife. Serve immediately.
Pastrami Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
Consider this dish, a Kenny & Zuke’s favorite, the love child of traditional Jewish deli and classic Americana—one part old-school New York City Reuben sandwich, one part L.A. drive-in burger post–World War II. For best results, make sure the hamburger meat has no less than 20 percent fat content so that the cooked patty ends up nice and juicy. If you have a meat grinder, grind your own beef using half chuck and half short rib meat. Make the buns with challah dough (see here) or choose a sturdy store-bought bun, such as a Kaiser roll or, in a pinch, potato buns. Imported, aged Swiss is the most flavorful (if not the cheapest) choice of cheeses. For the ’57 Chevy Bel-Air of burgers, make your own pastrami, Russian dressing, and pickles from the recipes found in these pages.
8 ounces Swiss cheese, sliced
12 ounces sliced pastrami, cut into pieces no more than 4 inches in length
1½ pounds ground beef
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sturdy burger buns, halved and toasted
½ cup Russian Dressing
16 Zesty Zucchini Bread-and-Butter Pickles
4 leaves romaine lettuce, cut into pieces no more than 4 inches in length
Preheat the oven to 175°F.
Divide the Swiss cheese and pastrami each into 4 equal piles. Fill a glass with water and set it next to the stove. Divide the ground beef into 4 equal pieces and form each into a patty about 5 inches in diameter, just under ½ inch thick.
Heat a large skillet, preferably cast iron, with tall sides and a cover over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan. When the oil begins to smoke, liberally season 2 of the patties on one side with salt and pepper. Place the patties seasoning side down in the pan and season the tops of the burgers with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, until a dark crust forms on the cooked side of the patties.
Flip the patties, and top each with a pile of the Swiss followed by a pile of the pastrami. Pour a small amount of water, about 2 tablespoons, into the skillet. Immediately cover the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until the burgers reach an internal temperature of approximately 135°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Remove the burgers from the pan and place them in the oven on a plate or tray to stay warm until the other two burgers are cooked. Wipe out the skillet, then cook the remaining patties in the same way.
Coat the insides of the toasted bun halves with the Russian dressing, using about 1 tablespoon per bun half. Place 4 of the pickle slices on the bottom of each bun. Set the topped burgers over the pickle slices, add the lettuce on top, and top with the remaining bun halves. Do not serve or cut into the burgers until they have had 2 minutes to rest after cooking.
Steak’n
Makes about 2¼ pounds
Keeping kosher involves compliance with many rules sometimes seen as synonymous with Judaism itself. None of the restrictions is better known or more widely followed than the ban on eating pork. For our Jewish brothers and sisters who adhere to this particular ritual and must refrain from the peerless porcine pleasure of bacon, do we have good news for you. The demented geniuses at Stopsky’s have created the perfect cure for pork envy and were gracious enough to share it with us. Be sure to use pink salt for this recipe rather than curing salt, which already has sugar in it. Stovetop smokers and applewood chips are commonly available where barbecue supplies are sold.
1 cup pure maple syrup
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¾ cup kosher salt
½ teaspoon pink salt (see Sources and Resources)
3 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 2 large pieces, each about 4 by 9½ inches
Mix together the maple syrup, brown sugar, kosher salt, and pink salt in a medium bowl. Place the short ribs in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and rub them with the curing mixture. Pour any remaining curing mixture over the top of the short ribs and let it pool around the edges and underneath. Cover tightly and refrigerate the beef to cure for 3 days.
On the third day, turn the beef over in the dish. The curing mixture will have separated, so stir it and then spread it over the top of the beef, allowing it to pool as it did before. Cover and refrigerate for 2 days longer.
Remove the beef from the curing mixture and rinse it well under cold water. Dry it with paper towels. Set up a stovetop smoker with about 2 cups applewood chips scattered on the bottom and the drip tray set on top. Wrap the wires of the smoker’s wire rack (not the entire rack) in aluminum foil and set it over the drip tray. Arrange the cured beef on the wire rack. Close the lid and place the smoker over medium heat. Smoke the meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F in the thickest part, about 1 hour.
Remove the beef from the smoker and set it aside to cool to room temperature. If not using immediately, wrap the Steak’n tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It can also be wrapped in plastic, then placed in a large resealable freezer bag and stored in the freezer for several months.
To serve, slice the Steak’n to the desired thickness and fry it in a large skillet set over medium-high heat until crisp on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Spring Brisket: Leeks and Wild Mushrooms
Serves 6
Early spring brings first-of-the-season mushrooms, including yellowfoot chanterelles, hedgehogs, and morels. Whichever varieties are native to your area will be best, of course. Yellowfoots are more delicate than hedgehogs and will become very soft if overcooked. If fresh fungi are in short supply or too expensive, substitute ¼ ounce of dried chanterelles for the 8 ounces of wild mushrooms that go into the pot with the roast. If desired, you may thicken the pan sauce with a cornstarch slurry or a roux after it has reduced. Accompany the brisket with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or last-of-winter roasted root vegetables.
3 pounds beef brisket
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound wild spring mushrooms, torn or sliced in half
3 large leeks (white and light green parts only), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half-moons
8 sprigs fresh th
yme, plus 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
½ cup dry vermouth
2 cups Homemade Chicken Broth or canned low-sodium chicken broth
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
If needed, trim the excess fat from the brisket so that there is about a ¼-inch-thick layer remaining. Pat the brisket dry with paper towels and season it generously with salt and pepper. Select a Dutch oven or stainless-steel roasting pan that will be large enough to accommodate the brisket, vegetables, and braising liquid. Heat the pan over medium-high heat, and then add the oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the brisket, fat side down first, and brown it on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove the brisket from the pan and set aside.
Carefully pour off and discard all but about 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan, just enough to leave a thin coating. Lower the heat to medium and add half the mushrooms and half the leeks to the pan. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes, scraping up any browned bits left from searing the brisket as the leeks and mushrooms release their liquid. Add the thyme sprigs, bay leaf, vermouth, and chicken broth. Return the meat to the pan, fat side up, along with any accumulated juices. Nestle the meat into the liquid. If necessary, add enough water so that the liquid in the pan is at least halfway up the side of the meat. Increase the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pan tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and transfer it to the oven.
Braise the meat for 1½ hours, then turn it over in the pan. Cover and return the brisket to the oven. Continue cooking until the meat is very tender and easily shreds, 1½ to 2 hours longer. To test the brisket for doneness, use two forks to gently pull the meat apart in the center. The internal temperature should be 195°F for lean brisket, or 205°F if it is a fattier brisket. When the brisket is done, transfer it to a cutting board, fat side up.