Two Brisket Recipes To Add To Your Catering Menu

Beef brisket has long been a barbecue favorite. With most briskets weighing between 3 and 8 pounds, it is also a great choice for your catering menu, since just a brisket or two will serve a decent-sized crowd. It's always nice to offer your customers options, so here are two barbecue brisket recipes to consider adding to your bbq catering menu.

Each of these recipes is for a single brisket. You can easily double, triple or quadruple the recipes based on your needs.

Tangy Mustard Brisket

The mustard-based barbecue sauce on this brisket will remind true barbecue fans of the sauce that's popular in South Carolina. Since this brisket braises in the oven and is finished on the grill, it comes out enticingly tender, but with that lovely grilled crust.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized brisket (5 - 6 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Season the brisket with the salt and pepper, and place it in a Dutch oven. Roughly chop the onion and celery, and add it to the pan along with the water. Cover the Dutch oven, and place it inside a 300 degree F oven. Braise for 2 1/2 hours.

While the brisket is braising, prepare the mustard barbecue sauce by combining the mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer (just to dissolve the brown sugar) and then turn off the heat immediately.

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, and lift out the brisket. Place it on a medium-hot grill, and grill for 15 minutes per side. Then, brush the brisket with the prepared barbecue sauce, grill for another 5 minutes, and then flip. Brush with the sauce again, grill for 5 more minutes, and then remove from the heat.

Let the brisket cool for about 10 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain. Pour the remaining sauce over it, and serve (or place in a steam tray for hot holding.)

Sweet and Spicy Brisket

This brisket has a heavier, sweeter, molasses-based barbecue sauce that's reminiscent of Kansas City style barbecue. It cooks over indirect heat on a grill with hickory chips, which adds additional flavor. Because of the smoking and grilling process, this brisket is a bit more labor intensive, but its flavor is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized brisket (5 - 6 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Set up your charcoal grill with mounds of about 20 charcoal bricks on each side and a drip pan in the center. Light the grill, and let the charcoal burn until it's almost completely ashen. Then, add a handful of hickory chips to each side.

Season the brisket with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Place it directly over the pan, and close the lid on the grill. Every 30 minutes, do the following:

• Add an additional 6 - 8 charcoal bricks to each side of the grill
• Add a handful of hickory chips to each side of the grill
• Turn over the brisket

While the brisket is smoking, combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan to make the barbecue sauce. Bring it to a simmer, simmer for about 5 minutes, and then set it aside.

Once the brisket has cooked for 3 hours, remove the lid from the grill. Brush the brisket with the sauce, and let it grill for 5 minutes. Turn it over, brush it with the sauce again, and let it grill for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove the brisket from the grill, and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain. Pour the remaining sauce over it, and serve as desired.