Heading into the August long weekend, the plan was to fly to my hometown in Saskatchewan to celebrate Willow Bunch’s 150th anniversary.
There would have been smoked beef, wrapped in newspaper and wire, nestled into a pit of burning embers inside the clay hills that surround the town. It’s an epic affair.
But a global pandemic put a stop to that. No celebration this year. No trip home.
Smoked brisket, however, is a stone’s throw away at Toronto’s best BBQ joint, Beach Hill Smokehouse, which happens to be in our neighbourhood. So I’m making a smoked brisket sandwich on a bun.
The brisket is super smoky; it’s like eating outdoors beside a campfire. I shred it into large chunks using two forks.
Often if you order a brisket sandwich it comes mixed in BBQ sauce. I like my BBQ sauce separate, and so that’s how this sandwich is going to be built.
I make my own BBQ sauce, based on my own recipe—I prefer it over grocery store versions. Ketchup is the base here, and I want to give a shout out to this Canadian-made ketchup which isn’t sweetened with sugar, it’s sweetened with dates. It’s my go to ketchup. And because it’s got dates I don’t bother adding molasses to my BBQ sauce, which is typical of most recipes.
A 1/2 cup of ketchup goes into a saucepan, along with: 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp honey (no sugar in this sauce!), 2 tbsp minced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, a dash of worcestershire, a hit of smoky paprika, 1 tsp mustard powder, salt & pepper to taste, and about 1 tbsp of water to loosen things up. Let that bubble on medium heat for about 10 minutes, jar it up, and let those flavours mingle in the fridge overnight. This recipe is enough for 4 sandwiches.
I want to add some cool, crunchy contrast to the smoky brisket and sauce, so I’m making a carrot and cabbage coleslaw. Veggies go into the food processor to make light work of it.
There are a million variations of coleslaw vinaigrette. In this case, I don’t want to go creamy. I’m looking for a bit of a light, tangy zip. So I make a vinaigrette consisting of the juice of two lemons, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp dijon mustard, salt & pepper to taste. Simple but refreshing.
Pour the vinaigrette and let those flavours mingle in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. It’s ready …
Time to build the sandwich! I slice two buns in half and butter them wall to wall. Into a pan they go on high heat for less than a minute (watch carefully).
Golden and ready.
On the bottom of the bun, slather on some mayo (I’m using my homemade roasted garlic mayo). Give that top bun a schmear of homemade BBQ sauce.
Coleslaw goes down on top of the mayo bun.
Time for brisket.
Drizzle a little more BBQ sauce on top of the brisket, cap with the top bun and enjoy. It’s summertime BBQ in a bun: smoky, tangy, cool, delicious. Hints of home during a pandemic.
— Trish Hennessy
A Year in Sandwiches 