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time. If you have a pit grill with an offset firebox, by all means use it for this recipe, and keep the heat as low as possible. Most people own gas or charcoal grills, however, so we’ve given the method for grill-roasting a brisket on these grills, using indirect heat and wood chips or chunks. The temperature is a bit higher than in a pit barbecue because the heat is closer to the meat. Nonetheless, you can still turn out a tender, juicy, smoky brisket from your average backyard grill. All it takes is time.

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INGREDIENTS (MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS)

½ cup Fragrant Chile Rub (page 372)

2½ cups Fire Beer Marinade (page 354)

1 flat or center-cut beef brisket, 5 to 6 pounds, trimmed, with ¼ inch to ½ inch of fat on one side

Oil for coating grill grate

2½ cups Sweet, Hot, and Sour BBQ Sauce (page 391) or your favorite barbecue sauce (optional)

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of the chile rub into the marinade and set aside. Scatter the remaining chile rub evenly over the brisket. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.

2. Rest the meat at room temperature before grilling, about 1 hour.

3. Soak the wood chips in water for 1 hour. Heat the grill as directed.

4. Brush the grill grate and coat it with oil. Drain about 1 cup of wood chips and scatter ½ cup over the coals on each side. If using a gas grill, drain all of the wood chips and put them in a smoker box or in a foil packet directly over one of the heated burners. Heat the gas grill to high until you see plenty of smoke, then turn the heat to low. Turn off the middle burner(s), or if you have only 2 burners, turn off the burner that doesn’t have the foil over it.

5. Put the brisket, fatty-side up, on the grill away from the heat, cover the grill, and cook for 2 hours. Put the brisket in the disposable pan and set the pan on the grill away from the heat. (The pan helps to retain moisture in the brisket and keep it from drying out.) Cover the grill and continue cooking until severely browned and blackened in spots or very well-done (about 190°F on an instant-read thermometer), 4 to 5 hours more. If using charcoal or wood, add fresh coals or wood and more wood chips when the old ones die out, about once an hour during cooking. Mop or drizzle the brisket with the marinade on both sides whenever the surface looks dry, every 40 to 60 minutes during the entire cooking time. Once the brisket is in the pan, you need to mop or drizzle only the top, fatty side. If your grill has a temperature gauge, it should stay between 250° and 300°F during the entire cooking time. If you can manage to keep it lower without the fire dying out, all the better.

6. Remove the pan of brisket from the heat and let rest for 20 minutes.

7. Heat the barbecue sauce and butter, if using, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter is incorporated into the sauce.

8. Remove the brisket to a cutting board. Trim any excess fat from the brisket and slice across the grain (don’t trim too much fat, though; the crispy bits taste great). Serve with the barbecue sauce. Or skip the sauce and drizzle the sliced meat with the pan juices.

Fish Stuffed with Five-Treasure Jasmine Rice Roasted in a Lotus Leaf

Lotus is an olfactory orgasm; a deep whiff can lead to momentary swooning. The magic of cooking in lotus is that its intoxicating fragrance infuses anything it touches. Lotus leaves come dried and are available in Asian groceries. They are huge, spanning 2 feet or more. All you have to do is soak them in a sink (or large bowl) filled with warm water until they become pliable, about 10 minutes. The fish in this recipe is left whole, but its main skeletal bones are removed, making it easy to serve.

TIMING

Prep: 40 minutes (plus 5 minutes for Szechwan salt)

Grill: About 20 minutess

GRILL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

• Grill screen

• Long-handled spatula

REMOVING THE BONES FROM A WHOLE FISH

You will need:

• Clean cutting board

• Sharp, narrow-bladed knife (boning knife)

• Heavy-duty scissors

1. Lay the fish on its side on the