4th of July Brisket Potjie BBQ sandwiches with Kohlrabi coleslaw

A blend of cultures feels perfect to celebrate the melting pot that is America: a Jewish cut of meat cooked with a South African method and flavored in the spices and sauce of the American South. A potjie is a South African Cast Iron pot with three legs used to cook over an open fire. The traditional potjie cooking method is low and slow and never stir with all ingredients layered to cook each ingredient to perfection. It is perfect for a brisket that melts over time and then to shred into BBQ sandwiches.

Ingredients:

• 5.5lb brisket

• 6 strips of bacon

• Beef bone broth

• Spotted Cow Farmhouse Pale Ale

• Sweet onions

• Shishito peppers

• Carrots

• Garlic

• Ketchup

• Cider vinegar

• Maple syrup

• Paprika

• Cumin

• Salt

• Pepper

• Bourbon

• Soft fresh rolls

• Kohlrabi

• Dijon mustard

• Cider vinegar

• Olive oil

Recipe:

Cut brisket into chunks. Salt and pepper and put in a bowl uncovered in the fridge the morning of the day you are cooking. Then go start your fire. You DO NOT want the fire to be too hot. I regularly burn potjies especially because you don’t want to check it while it cooks. Still you want to be able to have coals not a burning log heating the potjie. Keep the fire consistent to get coals, but you do not need to create a giant bon fire (looking at you Dad).

Start to prep one or two hours before you will start to cook. Julienne carrots and kohlrabi, slice sweet onions, and dice peppers and garlic. Put each in a separate bowl. Whisk a quarter cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon dijon, two tablespoons cider vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste, and then toss, cover, and put it in the fridge. Next make the BBQ sauce: mix together 1 cup ketchup, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin. Cover and put in fridge.

Pull a small amount of coals to the side in your firepit and set your potjie pot over it. Have a long grill tongs ready. Let it heat it up for five to ten minutes. Add bacon strips to the pot. Heat the bacon until the grease is extracted but make sure the bacon doesn’t burn. Remove the bacon and sat on a paper-towel lined plate. Now add the brisket chunks to the bacon grease in two rounds to the potjie. Brown on all sides - two to four minutes per side - and remove to a separate plate to rest.

Make sure the temperature of the potfie pot is ok - that it didn’t get too cool while browning the meat but that it is still hot enough to SIMMER your potjie when all the ingredients are added.

Now add the onions. Sautee for onions for five or so minutes. Add the carrots, peppers, and garlic. Stir for another three to four minutes. Now add two cups of bone broth and a can of Spotted Cow. Use your tongs to scrap up any veggies stuck to the bottom of the pot. Stir in half of your homemade BBQ sauce.

Now add the beef chunks on top of the onions, carrots and garlic. Make sure the coals under the potjie pot are enough for a low simmer (think “plop, plop, plop” bubbles). You should need to pull over some more coals under the potjie to maintain the slow simmer every 30-45 minutes. Cover and cook undisturbed (do NOT lift the lid) for 2.5 to 3 hrs (less time if the coals ever get the potjie too hot).

After three hours pull off the heat. Use two large forks to take out each brisket chunk to shred and put in your serving bowl. Once all the beef is shredded pour the veggies and sauce from the potjie pot into the serving bowl, along with the rest of the BBQ sauce. Stir to combine well.

Scoop potjie brisket BBQ onto soft rolls and top with kohlrabi slaw. Enjoy!