With the recent spring heatwave, it feels like summer has arrived early. It’s time to put steaming winter favourites on the back burner, or re-work it to fit into warm balmy afternoons!
Like a Reuben Sandwich, for example. Take a slow cooked bit of beef – usually in the form of corned silverside or brisket – and stick it between two slices of rye bread with cheese and pickles. Et voila! A cold winter favourite becomes a sunny spring lunch. And thanks to Meat and Livestock Australia, we’ve got our version of the reuben sandwich, just in time for those weekend picnics!


- For the Beef
- 1.5kg point end brisket, deckle off, fat cover left on
- Pickling Brine
- 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp allspice seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 150g fine sea salt
- 65g brown sugar
- 60ml white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 2L water
- Marinade
- 750ml beef stock
- 250ml good quality red wine
- 2tbsp dried oregano
- 2tbsp fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- sea salt to taste*
- ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- To Serve
- Wholegrain mustard
- Sauerkraut
- Cucumber pickles
- Swiss cheese
- Rye Bread
- In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic, peppercorns, allspice and coriander seeds into a paste.
- Transfer to a large pot, and add the rest of the pickling ingredients.
- Bring to boiling point over medium heat, stirring till sugar dissolves. Leave to cool completely.
- In a non reactive container - I used a large, heavy duty food grade ziptop bag - submerge the brisket in the pickling liquid.
- Cover/seal and refrigerate for 5 days**, turning the brisket once a day. If not using a bag, then also stir the brine when flipping the brisket.
- Remove the brisket and dispose of the pickling liquid. Wash the brisket and pat dry with a paper towel. Combine the marinade ingredients, and marinade the mixture in a non-reactive container or fresh ziptop bag.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Heat your oven to 160C. Remove the brisket from the marinade (and keep the marinade!) and scrape the herbs back into the liquid. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and sear over high heat till dark brown on the outside***.
- Place the brisket into a deep roasting tray with the marinade liquid - or if you have a high sided oven-safe pan you can use that too - and cover with aluminium foil.
- Place into oven and braise for 3.5-4 hours. The meat should be tender enough to pierce with a fork, but should hold together well enough to be sliced****.
- To serve, assemble the sandwich - mustard, sauerkraut, sliced pickles, beef and cheese - and toast till the cheese is melted.
- Bonus points if you include a braising-liquid-soaked-bread in the middle as the moistmaker, Monica Gellar style!
- *The beef came out quite salty (also probably because I used full-sodium beef stock. I would suggest maybe not salting the marinade any further)
- **If you're using a zip top bag, I would suggest also placing the bag in a tray, to prevent any leaks.
- ***If your pan isn't hot enough, the meat will start stewing. If this happens, remove the meat and pour out the liquid into the marinade. Heat your pan to high heat with a bit of oil and try again. Do not over cook or the meat will be very tough.
- ****I refrigerated the cooled brisket in the braising liquid to make it easier for me to store and slice. Once cooled, I sliced it thinly, and placed the slices back into the braising liquid to store in the fridge. Whenever I wanted a sandwich, I would just heat a few slices with some braising liquid, and assemble my sandwich.
- Recipe for beef courtesy of and reproduced with the permission of Meat and Livestock Australia