Earl Cooks Smoked Brisket & Veggies for Sunday Dinner

Roast Beef was one of my mom's favorite Sunday dinners to cook, because it was a one-pot meals that could cook while we were at Sunday Services. On the TV series "Big Bang Theory Howard Wolowitz's mother makes a nice brisket, and of course for St. Patrick's Day corned beef brisket becomes corned beef & cabbage. We never had brisket growing up, just whatever roast was on sale. This last summer I was introduced to Capt. Len's Smoked brisket, and fell in love!

In years past when I had brisket in other BBQ places it was okay, but often dry and not real flavorful.

But the Captain's is Special. Shown Right is a whole smoked brisket after the Captain's rub, developed over years, and then smoked for many hours. Below is the piece I was working with for our dinner.

I placed the brisket in my favorite slow cooker, to bring it up to temp. I don't need to add additional seasonings and it is fully cooked, so I line the slow cooker with onion slices to provide moisture and protect the brisket. Quartered Yukon Gold potatoes are placed on top of the onions and the juices from the brisket will run down and make them brown and luscious. A few carrots are placed around the crock-pot. I made a simple Au Jus to drizzle over all and leftover brisket becomes an awesome Sunday dinner.

I always want to have extra brisket on hand for this and many other meals. It goes great in Ramen, stew, sandwiches and I made some Jerky that was a real hit and I will share in an upcoming post.

Earl Cooks Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich with Garden Tomatoes

Sometimes a tasty ingredient just SCREAMS to be used in a new and different way, and I had a great smoked chicken quarter from Capt. Len's BBQ that knew I could use in a different way. 

The quarter chicken is a leg and thigh, and my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") does not care for dark meat, so this is ALL for me! It is fully cooked and lovingly smoked. I remove the meat from the bone and roughly chopped it because I want the experience to be more like eating chicken than tuna salad.

 Using a hand crank food chopper that I just bought, I chopped several green onions, tops, and whites, rather finely. I also wanted a bit of a crunch, and I have had a chicken salad with cashews, but I was out. I did have some great extra large Virginia Peanuts, which I also chopped fine. My variation on chicken salad was I substituted Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Cilantro Lime flavored, for mayonnaise. Mix the chicken, onions, peanuts, and ranch dressing thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper as you mix well.

My final addition is fresh-picked cherry and pear tomatoes from our little garden, halved and mixed in gently. With a silicone spatula or large spoon, spread it over a slice of bread, and top with the other slice.

I had no idea at the outset what a great flavor this would have. Smoky, creamy, and crunchy with a great freshness from the tomatoes. The tangy cilantro/lime ranch rounded it all out. Whether you use my exact ingredients, do try this with a smoked chicken quarter.

...I know, making a salad isn't exactly cooking, especially when the the smoked chicken came from Capt. Len's BBQ, but I did come up with it and assemble it, even if no heat was applied!

Smoked Brisket With Chive & Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Few things say "comfort food" like Barbecue, but another thing that does is Mashed Potatoes. For dinner tonight, I thought I would combine them into one quick and easy dinner for the two of us.

I had on hand some of Capt. Len's smoked brisket, some of the best you'll find. I prepared a batch of mashed potatoes with applewood smoked bacon chunks, then added homegrown chives, from my wife's (a.k.a.: "Turkey's") garden, to the potatoes. I then added thickly sliced brisket on top and drizzled a bit of my own Au Jus over the top of everything. I grew up eating and loving Sunday dinners with roast beef cooked low and slow, and this added the smoky deliciousness I never had growing up.

If this post sounds familiar, I did something similar a few months back, and loved it then and love it now. Comfort foods like these never get old, so go buy yourself some smoked brisket and bring back memories...or make some new ones!


My Quick Au Jus Recipe
Ingredients:
2 tsp. Beef Broth base (or bouillon).
1 cup water
¼ tsp. garlic powder (granulated garlic)
¼ tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce (soy sauce an be substituted here)
Salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Steps:

• Boil water.
• Add beef base to boiling water and stir until dissolved. Reduce heat to low.
• Add remaining ingredients dissolving completely.
• If a thicker Au Jus is desired, increase heat to medium and reduce until you get what you want.

Uses: 
Drizzle over any beef. Great for French Dip sandwiches. You can make extra and freeze for later!

—This would also be great made with beef bone broth or canned beef broth, substituting the water and beef base with the broth!