Lazy Texas Brisket with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Some recipes make your entertaining life so easy. My amazing mother has been feeding the masses for as long as I can remember and recipes from her have made my party planning much easier. She has an eye for recipes that can be done in advance and do not need a lot of work once the company has arrived. While the collection is vast and covers all occasions, I gravitate towards this delicious crowd pleaser for casual summer nights. The meat is fool proof and the BBQ sauce is unlike any I have had before, even though it contains classic ingredients. It has a great tang that works great on chicken as well. I always make a double recipe so there is extra for other nights. Served with some rolls and a salad, you will be the star of the night. It can be our little secret that it took so little work.

Lazy Texas Brisket
Bon Appetit, August 1982
12 servings

1 large garlic clove, minced
1 4 to 5 pound beef brisket
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper ( I used flakes)
1/4 a teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Broncbuster's Barbecue Sauce (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Rub garlic into both sides of brisket. Combine remaining seasonings in a small bowl and mix well. Rub into brisket. Set brisket fat side up on a large piece of foil and wrap tightly. Transfer to shallow roasting pan. Bake until tender, about 8 hours. Serve hot or cold with sauce.

Broncbuster's Barbecue Sauce
Bon Appetit, August 1982
makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup prepared chili sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Melt butter in large skillet over medium low heat. Add onion. Cover and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend in remaining ingredients. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, uncovered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!
xo
Erin

Perfect Picnic Provisions

I recently had the pleasure of going to an outdoor concert with 15 lovely ladies to celebrate, among many things, birthdays. As the resident personal chef to my friends, I was in charge of bringing the main course for the evening. I won't tell you who was playing the concert, but let's just say it was good we all got some great food in us as there was a lot of dancing and busting out lyrics from 1999. I made both of these picnic options the day of. They can be kept at room temp and were perfect. The chicken stayed really moist and the sandwiches had a sweet and salty bite to them. So pack up a picnic, throw a blanket out there and enjoy the summer. Even if it is just in your own backyard.

Honey Nut Chicken Strips

Rachael Ray - foodnetwork.com

serves 6

• 2 pounds chicken tenders
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• A splash milk
• 2 cups honey nut flavored cereal (recommended: Honey Nut Corn Flakes, I just used regular corn flakes)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoons Seasoning Salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, eyeball it

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large shallow dish. Coat chicken in flour. Beat eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Combine cereal, bread crumbs, paprika, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning and vegetable oil in food processor. Transfer breading to a shallow dish. Place a nonstick baking sheet near chicken breading station. In batches, take flour coated chicken and coat in eggs then in breading and place on nonstick cookie sheet. When all the chicken has been coated, transfer to oven and bake 15 minutes, until evenly brown and cooked through. Cool and serve, or pack up for a picnic! This chicken may be served hot or cold. I served them with everyone's favorite, light ranch!

Caponata Picnic Sandwiches

Giada de Laurentiis - foodnetwork.com

serves 6

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Salt
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1(14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon drained capers
• 1 loaf ciabatta bread, cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 slices (1/3-inch-thick) drained fresh water-packed mozzarella

Directions

Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and saute until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the eggplant and saute until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Season with salt. Add the red pepper and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices, raisins, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat until the flavors blend and the mixture thickens, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar, and capers. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut the bread pieces horizontally in half. Grill the bread cut-side down on a grill pan over medium-high heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Rub the whole garlic cloves over the toasted side of the bread. Add a slice of mozzarella to bread bottom, spoon the caponata on top, cover with the other bread half, and serve.

To take for a picnic: Wrap the sandwiches separately in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Chill until ready to serve, or keep at room temperature up to 1 hour.

These were both so delicious and my ladies loved them!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Erin

Banh Mi Baby One More Time

This recipe is a revelation. Seriously, I would usually never consider a meatball sub for dinner and here I was enjoying every minute of devouring this amazing sandwich tonight. This is a French-Vietnamese style sandwich, usually served on the streets, made gourmet and fabulous. The flavors are out of this world and you can do a lot of the work in advance. I will absolutely make this again and would serve to any company. It can be made to your taste (as you can see I like when you can play with recipes) and it would even be delicious if you served it as a salad for those of you out there trying to avoid baguettes. If you are that person, I am not sure that we can be friends.

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

Bon Appetit January 2010

Makes 4 Sandwiches

Pickled Vegetables

2 cups coarsely grated carrots

2 cups coarsely grated peeled daikon (I could not find this in my market and subbed in zucchini)

1/4 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

Directions: Toss ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, tossing occasionally

Hot Chili Mayo

2/3 cup Mayonnaise

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (like sriracha, but any hot sauce you like will do)

Directions: Combine all three ingredients in a small and season with salt. *Do Ahead: Can be made one day in advance, cover and chill

Meatballs

1 lb ground pork

1/4 cup finely chopped basil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce (can find in the Asian food section of your market)

1 tablespoon hot chili sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions: Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Using moistened hands and a scant tablespoons for each, roll meat mixture into 1 inch meatballs. Arrange on baking sheet. *Do ahead: Can be made 1 day in advance. Cover and chill

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the meatballs. Saute until brown and cooked through, turning meatballs often and lowering the heat if browning too quickly, about 15 minutes. (I took one out after they all felt firm and broke it open to make sure it was done) Transfer meatballs to another baking sheet and place in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs.

Assembly

4 10-inch long individual baguettes, or 4 10-inch long sliced pieces of a long baguette

thinly sliced jalapeno chilis (I removed the seeds, because it would be crazy hot with them!)

16 large fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions: Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally, but not through the other side completely. Pull out enough bread from each bread half to leave 1/2 inch thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo all over the sandwich. Arrange jalapeno slices, then cilantro in bottom halves. Fill each with 1/4 of the meatballs. Drain pickled vegetables; place atop meatballs. Press on Baguette tops.

Enjoy!!!

xoxo

Erin