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I smoked a brisket last weekend and while it was tender, delicious, and amazing, that is just the start of this post.
One night last week, I made twice-baked potatoes with some of this tasty brisket and leftover pimento cheese that Alexis had made.
Twice-Baked Potatoes
The process is simple.
I baked two large Idaho bakers on the Egg until they were tender.
I sliced the top off and scoops the steaming potato pulp into a large bowl.
There I added about a cup of chopped brisket and a heaping amount of pimento cheese.
I stuffed most of this mix back into the potato shells.
I put the potatoes on a tray into a Big Green Egg set up for indirect heat and running at 350°f. I topped them with a few pats of butter and let them run for 20 minutes.
I was going to send him a link to the recipe but was shocked to find I had not posted it before. That is surprising because Green Chile Brisket is a staple at our house. It is tender, savory,
juicy, slightly earthy, and has a mild kick.We use it in just about everything.
Green chile brisket, fire-roasted corn, diced tomatoes, black olives, green onion, jalapenos, shredded Colby-jack cheese, and our homemade queso.
Breakfast Tacos
A slice of green chile brisket with creamy scrambled eggs, jalapeno, diced tomato, shredded Monterey-jack cheese, and chipotle crema. It was supposed to be a corn tortilla but flour works.
Brisket with Pimento Cheese Grits
Stone-ground grits loaded with our homemade poblano-pimento cheese and a couple of chunks of green chile brisket. So good it will make your tongue slap your brain out of your head.
Stuffed Potatoes
A couple of small baked Russett potatoes stuffed with cheeses, green chile brisket, green onion, butter, and BBQ sauce.
[Standard FTC Disclosure] I received my Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX at no charge. I am sponsored by Certified Angus Beef® Brand.
Tonight is the college football championship between LSU and Clemson - GO TIGERS! (Boy, way to commit, Chris.)
I have the perfect Game Day food for you - the Ooey, Mooey, Gooey Brisket Slider - or for short the OMG Brisket Slider.
Why yes, that is deliciously smoked brisket with pepper jack and sharp cheddar on a "grilled cheese" made with a freaking Krispy Kreme donut!
Ooey - As in, you are walking through the office, spot a box and say, "Oooo donuts!"
Mooey - Smoked beef brisket
Gooey - A blend of your favorite cheeses
The OMG Brisket Slider works too, since the first thing you exclaim when eating it is OMG!
So that's the short version, here's the detail.
The folks at Oklahoma Joe's gave me a killer Christmas gift this year - one of their new Oklahoma Joe Rider DLX pellet grills. It is the biggest pellet grill I've had, and I couldn't wait to try it out. I have a full review post coming soon, but this is a BBQ beast.
The Oklahoma Joe's Rider - DLX - The famed offset smoker manufacturer has entered the pellet grill market with 1,234 square inches of BBQ goodness. Full review coming.
[FTC Disclosure] This is NOT a sponsored post. However, we are sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef® Brand. We have personal relationships with the owners/operators of Flame Boss, Kick Ash Basket, and Albukirky Seasonings.
Brisket is my strongest category at KCBS BBQ competitions. We aren't a team competing at 20+ events a year, but we almost always get a Top 10 "call" in the brisket category. This isn't the only way to cook a competition brisket, but it is what works for us.
We now use a Deep South Smoker GC36 for competitions and large cooks, but this is how we do the brisket on kamados using the same process.
Selecting A Brisket
Timing is critical because I like to wet age my briskets for 28 to 32 days before smoking them. The average time that beef wet ages before selling in retail is 12.7 days, so I typically need to wet age my briskets for about another 15 to 19 days. I always ask my butcher for the harvest date to be sure.
[FTC Disclaimer] We have no affiliation with Deep South Smokers. Flame Boss has given us samples but we have also bought units from them at full price too, they are worth it. We are proud to be sponsored by Certified Angus Beef Brand but this is not a sponsored post.
We smoked a couple of briskets a couple of weekends ago to practice for upcoming BBQ competitions. The next morning I woke up at 5am with this idea in mind. It's a brisket, egg, and cheese biscuit, complete with a cheese skirt.
The brisket was shredded from the point, the best part of the brisket IMO.
I seasoned the egg with a little of our beef rub recipe and fried it sunny side up.
I made a "cheese skirt" using Bojangle's concept for the Cheddar Bo biscuit that they used to sell. I took the bottom half of a biscuit, topped it with fresh shredded Colby-jack cheese, and put it on a sheet pan in a 425f oven for 3-4 minutes. This melts the cheese in a "skirt" around the biscuit.
Alexis made the lemon pepper sour cream biskets.
I could have done the briskets on our kamado grills but since it was for competition practice, I used the Deep South Smokers GC36. This is a gravity fed, insulated box smoker.
The Flame Boss is an electronic controller that maintains a specific temperature in your cooker and monitors the cooking temperature of up to 3 meats. It is wireless via wi-fi so it lets me keep an eye on things on my smart phone. These work with a pit like my Deep South or something smaller like Big Green Eggs.
I use several factors for selecting my briskets.
Source - When possible, I like to get Certified Angus Beef Brand briskets because I find their 10 quality standards provides a consistent brisket. My second choice is prime briskets, usually from Costco because they are about the only store that routinely carries prime brisket in my area. I'll do wagyu from time to time but I've scored better without it.
Size - It depends. For competition I look for 17-18 pounds. If I'm cooking it whole on a large Big Green Egg, the length limits it, usually around 13 pounds.
Shape - For competition I buy 2 briskets. One with a very nice flat and the other with a big point. I get two because on one, I trim the point short so part of the point protects the flat. I'll take my slices from that flat and the burnt ends from the other point. The flat should be well marbled, flexible, and have "mostly even" thickness. It should also have color to it, I don't like pale briskets. If I am just buying one for home, I look for the one that has the nicest flat with a decent point.
We separate the brisket flat from the point for competition. It makes the cook time faster and it gets more bark on my point for burnt ends.
This dish was inspired by a breakfast that Alexis and I had a few weeks ago at First Watch in the Bearden district of Knoxville. Their Barbacoa Benedict was a summer special menu item that had braised barbacoa, 2 poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, and sliced avocado on a ciabatta roll.
First Watch's Barbacoa Benedict
Although I was inspired by First Watch's Barbacoa Benedict, I didn't want to just copycat it - I wanted to riff off of it.
Beef - Our waitress didn't know if their barbacoa was beef cheek or brisket but whichever, it was braised. I used smoked brisket for my protein.
Saucy - Although Hollandaise is traditional for Benedict, I borrowed a page from Croque Madame or Kentucky Hot Browns and used a Mornay sauce.
Extras - I wanted to kick up the flavors a bit with fire roasted tomatoes and Hatch green chiles.
My Tex-Mex Brisket Benedict was a wee bit different.
This weekend was the 27th and final running of the Tony Stone BBQ Cook-off in Cookeville, Tennessee. This cook-off is a professional BBQ contest sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society and it is held at the same time as the idyllic town's Fall FunFest.
Last year, we registered for the contest but couldn't attend. Mick Chessor agreed to compete in our place in 2016 as long as Alexis and I competed with him this year. I just had two heart procedures ten days before this contest and was on limited duty, but I wasn't going to miss the final year of the Tony Stone BBQ Cook-off. Alexis and Mick just did all of the "heavy lifting"
I didn't take my camera but here are some phone pictures from the event.
The cook-off was well organized and I hate to see it go, but I understand how difficult it is to maintain such an event over so many years.
This was our first contest using a Deep South Smokers insulated box smoker instead of kamado grills (Big Green Egg, Grilla Kong, Grill Dome, Primo, etc.). Not having to break down and move four 200-lb kamado grills was so much easier and faster. But with all that red, I might have to buy a Kamado Joe to have on the trailer.
Jackie and Sherry Price's rig for their team, Smoke on This. They are seasoned pros and win more than their share of these contests. He uses Backwoods cookers (see them through the window), a drum smoker, and a PK Grill.
In March of 2015, I was in Nashville for the National BBQ Association's annual conference and staying at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. It was snowing out so I got room service and was surprised to get some of the best huevos rancheros I have ever had.
The huevos rancheros in question. They used poached eggs and 3 chile black beans were in the mix. It was amazingly good, way better than you'd ever expect from room service.
That dish stuck with me and I finally got around to making a version of it this weekend when I had some leftover brisket from a community service event that we cooked for last Thursday. Because what would go better under huevos rancheros than 3 chile black beans? How about a black bean, chile, and brisket chili!?!
Huevos Rancheros with Brisket and Black Bean Chili
Published 08/25/2016
Spicy black bean and chopped brisket chile topped with crispy grilled tortillas, fried eggs, and Oaxaca cheese all smothered with homemade fire roasted salsa. If you don't have leftover chopped brisket, you can always buy some from your local BBQ joint.
Ingredients
8 corn tortillas
8 large eggs
2 cups fire roasted salsa
2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1 cup pico de gallo
1 cup Mexican crema
For the Brisket and Black Bean Chili
2 cans Bush's Seasoned Black Beans
1/2 cup leftover chopped brisket
1 onion, sliced, grilled, and diced
1/2 of a fire roasted poblano chile, seeded, peeled, and diced
1/2 of a fire roasted jalapeno chile, seeded, peeled, and diced
1/2 of a serrano chile, seeded, peeled, and diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2-3/4 cup beef stock
Instructions
Preheat grill to 350f (medium).
Mix all chili ingredients together in a grill safe pot. Place on grill and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. (Alternate method using raw chiles and onion: Just dice the onion and chiles, then saute in a pot over medium high heat until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add in remaining chili ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.
Grill tortillas until crispy, about 1 minute a side. Wrap in foil and keep warm.
Fry eggs sunny side up (or to your preference).
Place a cup of the brisket and black bean chili on a plate. Top with two of the tortillas and two eggs. Smother the eggs with salsa and serve with pico de gallo, crema, and avocado on the side. Repeat for other 3 plates.
Yield: 4 servings Prep Time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.
Cook time: 00 hrs. 30 mins. Total time: 50 mins.
It might be difficult to find the Oaxaca cheese but it's worth it if you can find it. I call it "Mexican mozzarella" because it is rich, buttery, and melts like a dream. We buy ours at Kroger or Walmart in the refrigerated Latino foods section in the Dairy department.
I had leftover brisket because we cooked for a community event. I brought the "Warthog" stick burner out of storage for this one.
Huge 18 lb Certified Angus Beef brisket that we bought from Kroger. I wish that we had a regular, consistent source for CAB briskets in Knoxville because the last 2 we have gotten were very nice.
I injected using Butcher's Original Brisket Injection. I switched from the Chops Power Injector to this type of injector because I like that it applies metered doses instead of guessing how much I have injected. Each squeeze of the hand grip is 1 to 5 cc, depending on the settings. This way I am injecting a consistent amount everywhere.
You probably noticed that I separated the point and the flat. We do this at competitions, mainly because it cooks quicker, more evenly, and it gets me better bark coverage for my burnt ends. Here's a great video by David Bouska of Butcher's BBQ about how to trim this yourself.
I used a dalmation rub (salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper).
To get the Warthog going, I do about 6 small, cross-stacked splits of hickory or oak and use a shovel to put about a half chimney starter of live charcoal briquettes on top of the splits. Then I open up the intake vents and exhaust ports full bore to get the air flowing.
We cooked roughly 50 lbs of chicken, 40 lbs of pork, and 20 lbs of brisket for the event, which is why I used the stick burner. This was in addition to vacuum sealed freezer packs of pork and beef that we had from previous competitions. We were anticipating 100 guests and had enough food for 150 guests. That's why we ended up with extra, which is a good problem to have. Sure beats the alternative.
This is the leftover part of the flat heated back up for the eggs. To reheat brisket I wrap it in foil with about 1/3 cup of beef stock and put it in a 250f oven for 45 minutes to an hour, just until it gets flexible again.
I grilled the veggies for the black bean and brisket chili on my Big Green Egg Mini-Max. It's perfect for small jobs like this.
I grilled the corn tortillas to get them crispy, about 30 seconds per side at 350f.
Breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, this meal is a winner. I like making the salsa, chili, and pico de gallo ahead of time so all I have to do is toast some tortillas and fry some eggs.
[FTC Standard Disclaimer] I received no compensation for this post. I have no affiliation with Sheraton, Big Green Egg, or Butcher's BBQ. I have a good relationship with Certified Angus Beef but have received no benefits or compensation from then this year.
We've just started having a few cool nights and Summer isn't forgotten yet, but I have already had a big craving for tamales so we made some this past weekend.
If you can't or don't want to smoke your own brisket, no problem, just buy some from your local BBQ place. In Knoxville, I'd highly recommend Dead End BBQ or Full Service BBQ. Both make great brisket. For corn husks, I just buy those at my local grocery store. Pretty much all of the major chains carry them in their Latino foods section.
Brisket Tamales with Red Chile Sauce
dough and sauce adapted from Tasting New Mexico
Ingredients
18-24 dried corn husks, soaked according to package directions
Preheat your grill to 350°f. Toast the chiles over the fire in a grill pan, tossing once or twice, until the chiles become fragrant. This should be about 1-2 minutes.
Remove the end and seeds from the chile and discard. Break up the chiles into pieces in a blender. Add the tomato paste, seasoned salt, oregano, sugar (optional), and stock. Pulse the blender until the mixture forms a paste. Add in water in batches until you reach a sauce like consistency.
Place thick bottomed pot on the grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Add the oil and wait 1 minute. Add the onions and garlic. Saute until tender, 5-8 minutes.
Add the chile mixture from the blender to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the grill, taste for seasoning, and add salt as needed.
Stir in a few tablespoons of the red chile sauce in with the chopped brisket.
Take a husk in one hand and then smear about 2-3 tablespoons of the tamale dough across the wider part of the husk. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of chopped brisket on top of that. Roll up into a cylinder, and fold the empty end up (you can tie with a string but we just lay them folded side down). Repeat with remaining dough and brisket.
Place a trivet in the bottom of a large stock pot and fill 1/2 inch deep with water. Place the tamales in, folded side down, tightly close a lid on top, and heat until steaming. Steam until the dough firms up, 45 minutes to 2 hours, replenishing the water as it dries up.
Remove from heat and carefully remove lid to avoid steam burns. Serve tamales with some of the sauce ladled over them.
Yield: 18 tamales Tags: brisket, beef, Tex-Mex
I forgot how long steaming the tamales could take. I was starving by the time they finished 2 hours later!
This Wagyu brisket from Willy's Butcher Shop in Knoxville was drop dead gorgeous! Look at that marbling.
This brisket was for our enjoyment, not a competition, so I just used my beef rub on it (kosher salt, cracked black pepper, crushed green peppercorns, onion, garlic, red and green bell pepper, and oregano).
The rack under the brisket helps the rub stay on instead of getting stuck to the bottom of the bin.
Instead of foil, we used butcher paper for wrapping. I plan to do a full Franklin method brisket soon using our offset BBQ pit but this time, I used one of our Big Green Eggs.
I got a really nice, dark bark on this brisket.
Black gold! Dark and smoky on the exterior, tender and juicy on the inside.
Last month, our BBQ team did a grilling demo for Grill Dome kamado grills and Saber premium gas grills at the local dealer. Since football season was just a few weeks away, our theme was tailgating. We made John's breakfast pizza, MOINK! balls, stuffed Fritos, and these tasty brisket tacos.
Liven up your tailgates with food truck style brisket tacos.
Brisket tacos are one of my favorite things to get at Martin's BBQ in Mt Juliette, TN when I'm headed home from meetings in Nashville. Theirs is just shredded brisket, tomato salsa, cheese, jalapenos, and I like to add in some of their pinto beans.
If you're hungry and traversing Tennessee on I-40, stop off at Exit 226 in Mt Juliette, and get yourself some great BBQ at Martin's. It's on the South side of I-40 across from Olive Garden and Target.
Their brisket tacos are always good or I wouldn't be getting them all of the time. But I wanted to make mine a little more "food truck" style. So I upgraded to a charred corn salsa. For a flavor boost, we hit it with our Salsa Verde Cremosa and Chipotle Lime Crema.
This recipe is excellent for tailgates for several reasons. It's different than the usual burgers and dogs. It's portable and keeps one hand free for the adult beverage of your choice. It also extends how many servings you can get out of your beef. Best of all, it's flexible for preparation:
Make it all onsite if you are overnighting it at the tailgate,
Make the brisket at home and transport it whole to the game, then grill the salsa and tortiallas at the stadium, or
Make everything at home and just put it together at the game.
We opted for option #2, smoking the brisket flat at my house and took it wrapped in foil in a Cambro (you could use a warm insulated cooler) so it would stay hot for 4+ hours. Having a kamado grill like my Grill Dome makes it easier since I can sleep through most of the overnight cook. We grilled the salsa veggies onsite, sliced the brisket, and then grilled corn tortillas to order as we handed out the tacos.
About 24 hours before serving, prepare your brisket flat. Trim fat cap to about 1/8-1/4" thick. Use a meat injector to inject stock (optional but helps keep moist) into the brisket every few inches. Moisten the outside of the brisket flat with the excess stock and then season evenly all over (don't forget the sides) with the beef seasoning and fajita or taco seasoning. Refrigerate.
About 14 hours before serving, set up your smoker or indirect grill and preheat to 275°f.
About 13 hours before your tailgate, place the brisket on your smoker/grill and smoke until the flat is tender when you insert a skewer or temperature probe. This will take about 1 hour per pound or when the internal temperature hits about 200°f. When done, double wrap in foil and place in a warm cooler lined with a towel, the brisket with another towel, and close. This will keep it warm until ready to slice at the tailgate.
Meanwhile, preheat a grill to medium high (450°f) and cook the corn and chiles until charred on all sides. This will take 8-10 minutes, turning them every few minutes.
Make the salsa. Peel, seed, and dice the chiles and place in a medium bowl. Stand each corn cob on one end and remove the kernels by running a sharp knife down the sides. Place corn in the bowl. Add the onion, black beans, tomatoes, lime juice, and oil to the bowl and stir. Season to taste with season salt and refrigerate until ready to use.
At the game: Slice the brisket and chop or break into 1" pieces. Grill the tortillas over a hot grill until slightly browned on each side, about 6 to 10 seconds a side. Top each tortilla with a spoon full of brisket pieces, a heaping tablespoon of salsa, a squirt of salsa verde, a squirt of crema, and if desired, a few pieces of cilantro.
Yield: 18+ tacos
Substitutions
Beef Seasoning - I used my NMT Beef Seasoning. You can also use garlic pepper seasoning, Montreal seasoning, any commercial beef rub, or just use 3 parts salt, 2 parts black pepper, 1 part granulated garlic.
Chipotle Lime Crema - There are several easy recipes. One is to blend 1 cup Mexican crema, 1 chipotle pepper (seeded), and 1 ounce lime juice. Another is to blend a cup of Mexican crema, 1 ounce lime juice, 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder, 1/2 teaspoon season salt, and chili powder to taste.
I like to keep my briskets or brisket flats on a raised rack like this so that the rub on the bottom doesn't get stuck to the pan.
Use the wood you like. I like using a triangle stack of 1" x 13" splits of oak or hickory. The coals go in over this. The basket is a KickAsh basket which makes reusing your coals easier.
My Grill Dome out front since we were staining our deck when we did this demo.
We grilled veggies for the salsa and the cremosa on the Saber grill. The infrared cooking charred the veggies quickly without drying everything out.
Don't worry, you aren't burning the corn, you are just charring sections of the cobs which packs flavor into the salsa.
You can buy jarred salsa for your tailgates but fresh is cheap, easy, and soooo much better.
Alexis heating the tortillas on the Saber grill while the stuffed Fritos were cooking.
A great combination of flavors all in a one handed meal.
Here are some other shots from our grilling demo at The Great Backyard Place, Knoxville's Saber gas grills and Grill Dome dealer.
They used to be the Great Pool Place for years but they carry so much more for your outdoor lifestyle that they recently changed their name. They have top end outdoor furniture, Saber gas grills, Grill Dome kamado grills, and amazing outdoor kitchen set ups. Check them out in Knoxville, Maryville, Cleveland, Chattanooga, and Asheville.
They might be heavy but you can take your Grill Dome to your tailgate if you are inclined.
Setting up for a grilling demo.
John creating one of his breakfast pizzas, these are perfect for tailgating for early games!
Alexis cooking eggs on the Saber side burner while I'm grilling chiles for the salsas.
Eggs, sausage, bacon, cheese, and more all loaded onto a killer breakfast pizza.
MOINK! balls are easy and ideal for preparing ahead of the tailgate.
Meatballs, bacon, and BBQ sauce, how can you go wrong with that?
Stuffed Fritos are a bit unexpected, easy to make, and always a big hit.
The Saber grill was the nicest gas grill I have ever used. Great design and plenty of infrared heat, this thing can cook! It is a complete departure from most gas grills that use hot dry air to cook your food.
Excuse the blurry phone picture. Whoever thought that the lowly Frito could be so awesome?
The rain wasn't supposed to hit until the end of our demo...it had other plans. It got dark with 2 hours to go and then the torrential rains kicked in.
Just hanging around? No...hanging on! With the rain came winds that knocked over trees all around the Bearden area.
Hanging on wasn't just for dramatic effect. Shortly before, the other tent caught a draft, lifted straight up in the air about 15 feet (with Anna Mae under it), and then flipped upside down like this. It took our buffet table of food with it.
Normally we strap our tents down with 5-gallon buckets of water on each corner but we were counting on being gone before the rains were supposed to arrive. Lesson learned!
[Standard FTC Disclaimer] We are sponsored by Grill Dome, Char-Broil (which is in the same corporate family as Saber), and The Great Backyard Place.
-a must have for any barbecue enthusiast. But a few years ago they came out with 
