Brisket, Two Ways: Part 1

This weekend, I took a shot at one of my favorite Texas meals. Barbecue is one of my absolute favorite things to eat. It's right up there with steak, fajitas, chicken fried steak, and sweets of all kinds. It is something that absolutely must be mastered before I leave Texas in less than year. For my friends in Tennessee, this is a totally different type of barbecue than you are used to. That is not pork you see in that picture. It is beef brisket. And you cannot judge brisket by what you find at the barbecue restaurants in Tennessee. It is simply NOT the same.

This is my second attempt at brisket. My first attempt was delicious, but not nearly tender enough.

I got a brisket that was already trimmed and weighed only 3.2 lbs. Since there are only two of us, we probably would not eat it quickly enough if we had a whole big honkin' brisket.

You'll need these items:

Chili Powder, Ground Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Salt, Cumin, Lawry's Seasoned Pepper, Paprika, and Corn Starch

You need 1 t of each spice per pound of meat. My brisket was 3.2 lbs. I just made my third teaspoon of each spice be heaping. I didn't really measure out 0.2 t. You also might want a box (not a can) of Beef Stock.

Rub the spices all over your meat, like so:

There should be one side that's super, super fatty. Put that side on top. It helps make the meat really moist.

I put some beef stock in the bottom of the pan. It's not absolutely necessary, but I wanted some yummy juices for the second way to eat this brisket. I only put about 1/4 of the box at first. About two hours before the brisket finished I put the remaining 3/4 in my pan.

This has to cook very slowly. It was in my oven at 200 degrees for seven hours. (That is, the remaining beef broth went in at the five hour mark. You could probably dump the whole thing in at the beginning, but I didn't know how much of it I'd want when I started. Plus I was a teensy bit afraid that the broth might steal the spices from the meat, and that would be sad. The way I did it did turn out just right, though.)

After 7 hours, you end up with this:

This is my favorite barbecue sauce:

 I mix the spicy and the original together in equal parts. It's delicious.

I like to eat my brisket with mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, dill pickles, and cheese.

I sprinkle the pickles and cheese with a little of the barbecue seasoning (minus the corn starch and the cayenne). I will share my (mom's) deviled egg recipe at a later date.

Any guesses for what the second way to eat this delicious brisket is?
Free cookies to anyone who guesses correctly (and lives near me)!


Brisket


trimmed brisket (mine was 3-ish lbs if it matters to you)

1 t per pound of brisket each of Chili Powder, Ground Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Salt, Cumin, Lawry's Seasoned Pepper, Paprika, and Corn Starch

 1 box of beef stock (could be a little more or a little less depending on the size of your brisket)


1. Mix spices. Then rub all over the meat.
2. Put the brisket in your roasting pan, fat side up.
3. Pour in desired amount of beef broth, keeping in mind that some of it will evaporate while the meet is cooking.
4. Bake at 200 degrees for seven hours.
5. When meat is done cooking, trim off all visible fat, and cut remaining, non-fatty meat into pieces.
6. Serve with BBQ sauce and sides and enjoy!