Smoked Brisket Recipe

Chris Burrous: Smoked beef brisket, hands down. The most popular beef cut of them all. In California's grill guru JR Rothenburger is tops for the chops. His special recipe and rub are tender and delicious masterpiece at JR’s Texas barbeque. Food and lifestyle expert Laura McIntosh is bringing it home.

Laura McIntosh: We are going to start barbequing. Couple of things before we start though, you can notice I have and probably here some gloves on and JR you have yours on as well, cross contamination is a no-no.

JR Rothenburger: Cross contamination is a no-no.

Laura McIntosh: So we’re starting off barbequing nice and safe.

JR Rothenburger: Exactly.

Laura McIntosh: All right now, I heard about this rub. Let’s hear it.

JR Rothenburger: When you're doing a brisket, you dry rub it and whatever the combination I have in there makes a hotdog taste great. You know, even though we’re -- what I mean is unbelievable.

Laura McIntosh: Good. Now, you just said we’re going to dry rub and we are and we’re going to dry rub with your special dry rub.

JR Rothenburger: With this right here, we’re going to take this right here. We’re just going to put this right here and you just rub this whole thing right here. Okay now, would you like to turn that over for me?

Laura McIntosh: Yup, and it’s important to do both sides.

JR Rothenburger: Very important. Now, you noticed before I did it and I forget to tell you that did you see the fat on the other side?

Laura McIntosh: I did.

JR Rothenburger: That’s the side you put up when you're barbequing.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, when you say put up, I'm putting that down on the fire.

JR Rothenburger: No, that is going to stay up. I'm going to turn this over again. This is the way you do it. But you notice there was no fat on this side.

Laura McIntosh: No there wasn’t at all.

JR Rothenburger: And now, you're going to turn that back over.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, all right. Oh, look at that. Oh look at it.

JR Rothenburger: And this is the fat side now and that’s the side you want to keep because the moisture stays like that, if you do the other side, the smoking process will suck the moisture right up.

Laura McIntosh: Sure and this is where the moisture is.

JR Rothenburger: This keeps it in.

Laura McIntosh: All right, so this is good.

JR Rothenburger: And we’re going to go put that on.

Laura McIntosh: Let’s do it. You guys ready to follow me? We’re going to go out on the grill.

JR Rothenburger: This is our little mini Weber.

Laura McIntosh: Yeah, this is our mini Weber. Yeah, I don’t know where I put this in my backyard. Okay, here we go.

JR Rothenburger: And there we go.

Laura McIntosh: All right, right there.

JR Rothenburger: All right, right over there and you noticed that we have brisket on here already and you put beef over beef, pork over pork, chicken over chicken.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, so now we’re going to do the pork.

JR Rothenburger: And I got to take the gloves off here.

Laura McIntosh: Okay. And you're the pro. You have them layered.

JR Rothenburger: And there you go like that. I got them—well.

Laura McIntosh: I'm going to put some more on, that’s good.

JR Rothenburger: And this is my little rub right here, all right and you do the same thing here. And actually that probably might be a little bit but it’s to your taste. Everybody has their own, so, just a little bit back here.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, I'm feeling the bones underneath.

JR Rothenburger: Exactly.

Laura McIntosh: The bones go down.

JR Rothenburger: And we’re going to put this right back on here again.

Laura McIntosh: All right.

JR Rothenburger: There we go; we’re going to set that right over there.

Laura McIntosh: Right up here. There we go.

JR Rothenburger: Wow.

Laura McIntosh: Look at that. All right, lock and load. Let’s get this thing started.

JR Rothenburger: Okay, we’re ready to go here.

Laura McIntosh: Yeah, we’re ready.

JR Rothenburger: Okay, and now we’re going to do the same thing. Now this is chicken, you don’t put so much. Now it’s to your taste, you could put this on here and I mean, it will be hotter than a pistol but I know you—

Laura McIntosh: JR, this is boneless and skinless.

JR Rothenburger: Exactly!

Laura McIntosh: Okay, all right.

JR Rothenburger: Oh, I do some with skin but this one here; I wanted to show you this because this is just unbelievable what this spice, JR spice --

Laura McIntosh: Will do.

JR Rothenburger: We call it smoke and rub.

Laura McIntosh: I love it. Smoke and rub?

JR Rothenburger: Yeah, smoke and rub, yeah.

Laura McIntosh: Okay.

JR Rothenburger: We just need a little bit on here.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, we’re ready.

JR Rothenburger: And we’re ready to put that over there.

Laura McIntosh: No, its boneless skinless, so it doesn’t matter what side I put on.

JR Rothenburger: No, that one there doesn’t but actually I try to keep that the top side because the other one came right off the bone area.

Laura McIntosh: I see, okay, all right.

JR Rothenburger: And there's a special—I'm going to go off this side here.

Laura McIntosh: Oh good, okay.

JR Rothenburger: But when you just set that right there, now this is 16, 18 hours.

Laura McIntosh: That works.

JR Rothenburger: It’s not burnt, that’s my dry rub.

Laura McIntosh: It’s barbequed.

JR Rothenburger: Its barbequed.

Laura McIntosh: That’s right. All right, so we have our brisket. We have our pork. We have our chicken. Now, this isn't what we just dry rubbed.

JR Rothenburger: Yes.

Laura McIntosh: This has been cooking for how long?

JR Rothenburger: 16, 18 hours.

Laura McIntosh: Okay.

JR Rothenburger: 6 to 8 hours.

Laura McIntosh: All right.

JR Rothenburger: And 4 to 5 hours.

Laura McIntosh: All right, brisket, we told you earlier. It’s the hardest meat. You know a lot of people stay away from it because they can't cook it right. But when you do, it melts in your mouth.

JR Rothenburger: Exactly.

Laura McIntosh: Right?

JR Rothenburger: Exactly.

Laura McIntosh: Okay, let see it then.

JR Rothenburger: And now look at here. Oh my—

Laura McIntosh: Look at that.

JR Rothenburger: You see the dry. They're nice and a smoked line. You always cut it across the green.

Laura McIntosh: Oh, look at that.

JR Rothenburger: Oh, it’s so tough. I think I'll cut it with the backside of the knife.

Laura McIntosh: Look at that.

JR Rothenburger: Would you like a sample?

Laura McIntosh: Yeah, well absolute. I told them I’ll have my eyes and ears and taste buds today.

JR Rothenburger: Oh, look at this here.

Laura McIntosh: Now, do I also get—

JR Rothenburger: You actually need to taste it first. Everybody you have to taste the brisket first because you do not need anything on it.

Laura McIntosh: All right. Delicious! Oh my goodness. This is terrific.

Chris Burrous: Nestled in the middle of Napa valley lies the town of Yountville, picturesque and quaint like many towns in the wine country. What's unique about Yountville is how with less than two square miles it’s influencing our food and how that foods grow. It begins here, the garden set on an acre and a half but not just any garden. A garden belonging to the French Laundry wildly touted as the best restaurant in the United States. Everything picked here will eventually wind up on plates there and most likely on the same day.

Tucker Taylor: I internally give the chefs monthly forecast which is somewhat flexible. But more importantly I forecast every night, so when they write the menu each night. They know what is available for the next day as harvest.

Chris Burrous: Tucker Taylor is the culinary gardener for the French Laundry. He overseas everything that’s growing here, collaborating with the chefs along the way.

Tucker Taylor: I would give the chef seek out logs in the beginning of the season and they will flick through and tell me what they really want and also what they don’t want. So I have an idea of what to plant and how much to plant.

Chris Burrous: Even before the garden was here, French Laundry chef and owner Thomas Keller was a champion of fresh locally grown ingredients, forging relationships with neighborhood growers.

Corey Lee: I want this thing to be so amazing that even the chefs go, “wow, do you see that, look at these things, we’ve never seen a product like that” at least that’s what I envisioned happens.

Chris Burrous: Peter and Gwen Jacobsen’s stumble into farming when they bought this land in Yountville covered with fruit trees, 25 years ago. Not wanting to see their fruit go to waste, they begin peddling it to local restaurants including the French Laundry where their figs were an instant hit. Today everything grown on their property, a 120 fruit trees and rows of vegetables and herbs is exclusively contracted to the French Laundry.

Peter Jacobsen: It does seems strange that we started out knowing nothing and now we’re farmers for the French Laundry, the most elegant restaurant of the United States perhaps the world. The learning curve has been amazing.

Chris Burrous: But they learned from the best, Thomas Keller’s philosophy of always striving for perfection is evident throughout his restaurant. The only one in California with a three star Michelin rating, most recently earned by chef de cuisine, Corey Lee.

Corey Lee: The impact that California has had on my cooking and my approach to cooking is really about the produce, seeing Tucker and seeing Peter. And see how much energy and where it goes into producing all of that for the vegetable. Makes you treat the vegetables a little more respect.

Chris Burrous: The relationship between kitchen and garden has evolved into chefs picking crops from Peter land daily and Tucker interacting regularly with Chef Corey.

Corey Lee: We’re almost relying on the garden for many things and now I just can't imagine for its luxury with that garden across the street.

Chris Burrous: Although Chef Corey made at the accolades for the amazing food he creates, he’s the first to admit that it’s collaboration.

Corey Lee: Another place where Tucker and Peter are hugely valuable is that their understanding and their repertoire of the different vegetables and food that can grow is beyond my understanding. Peter has a dozen kinds of radishes. I can't even name a dozen kinds of radishes but it’s that kind of interaction that’s very important.

Chris Burrous: This vested interest also allows Peter and Tucker to research unique and interesting new varieties to plant.

Tucker: I have some freedom to grow things that I want and sometimes they’re really excited about it and sometimes they’re not too into it but that’s okay.

Chris Burrous: Peter has persuaded the French Laundry to utilize his snails, the only ones in the country to be certified organic free-ranged.

Peter: For a chef, I think a new ingredient is an amazing thing, seasoning new that you haven’t seen before opens up so many doors.

Chris Burrous: Having the influence over what produce is grown and how it’s grown gives Chef Corey the ability to work with varieties that might otherwise be impossible to obtain like this petite zucchini.

Tucker: In general, the smaller vegetable, the shorter they’re felt like, so to speak. So it’s pretty amazing that we can harvest and have something in the kitchen and on the plate for service within an hour.

Chris Burrous: Tucker’s garden and the Jacobsen's orchard are shaping the vision of what farming can become in the future. In fact, it’s already happening here in Yountville several of Peter’s neighbors have turned portions of their yards into gardens, growing food for nearby restaurants and markets.

Peter: Actually, it’s fascinating to reflect on what's happening in this area because we think we’re growing vegetables for the French Laundry but I realized that the French Laundry is growing farmers.

Corey Lee: But it’s really the impact at home that’s important. It’s when you go shopping to make dinner for your family you know, the kind of produce that you buy or even taking that step and deciding to make dinner for your family. And the greatest impact that I hope I will have is the day to day eating that reckons choose when you've done it at home.