Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Brisket Sliders with Fried Avocado Stuffed Hatch Chile and a Giveaway

Here's another idea for using leftover BBQ brisket - a brisket slider topped with a deep fried Hatch chile that has been stuffed avocado and cheese.

pub food, leftover brisket, smoked brisket


While the brisket alone makes great sliders, this topping creates a slider that has mild heat, crispiness, and then a smooth cooling effect from the avocado and cheese.  Don't have any leftover brisket around?  Your local BBQ joint would probably be glad to sell you an extra pound or two!

But when we do BBQ competitions, I like to cook an extra Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brisket flat as a back up.  Sometimes I'll use the exact same recipe, other times I'll tweak the back up flat recipe and choose between the better versions.  This was my back up at the BBQ Bash in Maryville - an 8.4 pound flat.

bbq brisket, competition brisket
Getting ready to go onto the smoker.


After building our brisket turn in box and passing out samples to friends...

competition brisket
Sorry about the "potato quality" mobile phone picture.  I didn't take my camera to the contest.


We still had an entire flat to bring home, about 4 pounds worth.  Even after sitting in the fridge and reheating, it was still tender, smoky, and moist.  Here's a confession - I like brisket better after it has been reheated and becomes fall apart tender.  I know that's over done and I don't like my ribs that way but crumbled up brisket on a taco or slider?  I'm all in.

bbq brisket, kamado brisket, big green egg brisket
Tasty even when reheated a few days later...


I wanted something a little different, something that you might get at your favorite watering hole.  I surfed the freezer and found a package of Hatch chiles from last season, inspiring these pub style sliders.

Cut the chiles in half and de-seeded them. Typical triple dip of seasoned flour, eggwash, bread crumbs.

Hatch chile for deep frying
I used a quarter chile, a half slice of avocado, a small piece of cream cheese, and a few pinches of fajita seasoning for each topper.

hatch chile for deep frying
The chiles can be tender so I double secured them with toothpicks.

hatch chiles
As soon as they come out of the fryer, hit them with some fine sea salt.

pub food, sliders, bar food, tailgaiting ideas
Served each with a slice of brisket, one topper, and a bit of au jus. 

These sliders were crazy good.  I'll admit it was a little bit of a pain making the toppers but they were worth it.

Certified Angus Beef - Steak Giveaway
Speaking of brisket, a few weeks ago I attended #GrillTalk at the Certified Angus Beef headquarters in Wooster, Ohio.  We learned about how beef is graded, why the CAB program yields better beef, we practiced breaking down primal cuts (shoulder, sirloin, etc), and discussed different cuts of beef for the grill.

Ashley Pado, CAB brisket
Chef Ashley Pado seasoning a CAB brisket as we discuss low and slow BBQ.

I am working on a post to share a good bit of what I learned at the Certified Angus Beef facilities but first I want to share this....

steak, giveaway,
Steak Giveaway!

The folks at Certified Angus Beef are generously giving away one of their Cattlemen's Premium Collection packs to one lucky reader, shipped to their door.  That collection includes:
  • four 12 oz CAB strip steaks, 
  • four 8 oz CAB filet mignon, and 
  • four 10 oz CAB ribeye steaks. 
How To Enter and Rules - CONTEST PERIOD CLOSED
  1. To enter, just leave a comment about your favorite cut of steak.  You can have a second entry for a tweet about this giveaway including my twitter handle @nibblemethis so I can find it.  NOTE:  If you are using the anonymous comment option, please make sure to leave a way to reach you (email,  forum user name, twitter etc) in case you win. 
  2. Giveaway entry period begins as soon as this is posted and ends July 19, 2015 at 11:59pm. Drawing will be held July 20, 2015 at noon (All times are Eastern Time zone).  Winner will be announced in an update to this post. 
  3. Comments & tweets will be numbered and random.org will generate a random number for the winner.
  4. Limited to residents of the continental United States unless you wish to pay the extra shipping charges.
  5. Certified Angus Beef is only sponsoring the prize package. I am hosting the giveaway and I am the final judge regarding any discrepancies, interpretations, grievances, etc about this drawing.
  6. Winner must respond to claim the prize within one week of the winning announcement and/or email contact. I do attempt to contact the winner directly if contact information is provided.  If a winner does not claim the prize during the specified time, a reserve winner will be drawn from the original entries.
In the mean time, check out Certified Angus Beef's website for recipes and inspiration for what you want to do if you win this amazing package of premium steaks!

Winner Announcement 
The random draw winner is Bailey Landreth.  Bailey, I have messaged you through a hangout on your Google+ account.  Please get back with me on your mailing address and I will get Certified Angus Beef to ship you your prize package.

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received the same package of steaks and an expenses paid trip to the Certified Angus Beef headquarters; however, I have been using CAB long before and any opinions given are strictly my own.