make ahead party favorite

This is the time of year for it.  Holiday parties, football parties, office parties....

And you want food that is easy to prepare, minimal to clean-up, and well....a big fat hit.  What could be better than a spread of finger foods and salads with sliders as the centerpiece?  Sliders are great on several levels.  They are a one-handed sandwich, they are cute, easy to dress with a variety of toppings, and they are trendy.

But who on earth wants to be married to the grill in December, or hunched over a greasy frying pan in the kitchen, while everyone else is in the den, high-fiving touchdowns?

Enter: the mighty brisket.  It is a tough, relatively inexpensive cut of beef that benefits from hours of neglect in the oven, tastes better when it sits, cooked, in the fridge for a day or two, and tastes sublimely of good beefy flavor.

Oh, and it takes well to a few hours marinade in a dry rub.  Buy a commercial rub if you are short on time, but consider adding a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, which will help brown things up a bit.  Here is a simple rub for a 3 pound brisket, which will make 18--22 sliders.

2 TBS chili powder
1 1/2 TBS salt (go kosher)
1 TBS garlic powder
1 TBS onion powder
1 TBS ground black pepper
1 TBS brown sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper (optional)
the last two ingredients will add smokiness to the rub, but the rub is great without them.

just mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl

Massage the rub into the brisket, wrap it in a plastic bag, and set it in a bowl in the fridge.  Now forget about it for a few hours, or a day.  When you are ready to cook it, heat the oven to 350.  Drop it into a roasting pan or a dutch oven, and roast it, uncovered, for 1 hour.  Take it out of the oven and reduce the oven heat to 300.

I had frozen beef stock in the freezer,

which I just chucked in the pan still frozen

If you want, add a coursely chopped onion and a couple of smashed garlic cloves to the pan, for a little additional flavor.  Don't even worry about removing the skins -- they will be strained out of the broth.  Add a cup of beef broth and a cup of water, cover the pot with a lid or a sheet of foil, and slide it back in the oven.  Go about your business for 3 hours.

Good for you if you cooked this a day or two ahead of the party.  It will be even better.  Just cool it in its broth, and stash it, covered, in the fridge.  On the day of the party, remove the meat to a cutting board, and strain the broth into a sauce pan, reducing it by half at a boil, which will take about 15-20 minutes.

In the mean time, slice the brisket into thin strips, against the grain (you can see the long fibers on the meat -- slice perpendicular to those.  It is important to having tender meat.)  Wrap it in foil, and heat it in a 325 degree oven.

 these tender, beefy morsels make awesome sliders

Those little potato rolls hanging out in nearly every grocery store bakery make awesome slider rolls, and add a slight counterpoint of sweetness to the spicy beef.  Just wrap them up in foil and heat them right along with the beef.  Served with a side of your favorite cole slaw (just fine if it is from the deli section), the reduced sauce for moistening the meat, and your other favorite party snacks, these little beauties will be the hit of the party.  And you'll be out of the kitchen, watching the game.

sliders are made for parties-- everyone can have as much 

or as little to eat as their hearts desire