Brisket

This past Monday, Patriot's Day here in Boston, Cathy and I had the day off and planned to spend it low key, together. Initially we'd thought we may get up early and head to the reenactment in Lexington at the battle green. As the early hour came and subsequently passed, we decided to stay in bed instead and sleep. The  weather was on the cool side anyhow and we were pretty certain we knew the outcome, having attended many times in the past.

While putting away groceries from our morning shopping expedition I noted an overabundance of beef brisket in our freezer. I'd planned to cook one of the two corned beef brisket leftover from St. Patrick's day to get that out of the freezer. However, I also discovered another pot-roast style brisket that was in dire need of use. A quick defrost of the latter brisket and both received an ample dry rub as well as a bacon covering and then made their way to the smoker for the day. I wasn't sure how the lean pot-roast would fare but gave it a try anyhow.

In the mean time, Cathy and I went out for a couple of hours on a mild CX ride through the middle of the day. As we arrived back home and started checking back in we became aware of the horrible incidents that had just recently transpired at the Boston Marathon. Needless to say we began to take stock of friends who were at the event. Despite some anxious moments, we later determined that they were fine, having missed the disaster by about a half of an hour.

The remainder of the day was spent pretty much glued to the television and internet and tending the brisket in the smoker. I used a combination of mesquite and apple wood chips for the smoke. In hindsight, mesquite produces a very distinct almost harsh, pungent flavor which seems especially pronounced in beef. I need to remember this moving forward and opt for more subtle flavor.


The brisket came out pretty good. The corned beef brisket is an excellent choice for the smoker as it remains moist and juicy due to the higher fat content. It also retains much of its corned flavor as well. The pot roast brisket had good flavor but being a thinner and leaner cut, the ends dried out a bit. All in all not bad though.

Last night I diced the remaining pot roast brisket and threw it into the frying pan to saute with some garlic, onion and BBQ sauce. Layer that over a bed of Monterrey jack and mayo on a roll and it made for some really good dinner post Tuesday Turkey Vulture ride. The best thing is that we are two full meals in and still have some leftovers in the fridge.