Good Morning, fellow food lovers! Do we have a fantastic southern-style meal for you! Imagine my shock when I said "let's do a braised brisket", and John and Jenn looked at me like I had three heads. I then polled some friends, and it turns out, most New Englanders have no clue what it is! In fact, someone even asked me "is that the stuff they serve with cabbage on St. Patrick's Day?" So maybe I just have a little country in my blood, but I insisted we dip our toes into some southern cooking, and we created a delicious menu!
Cocktail - Blackberry Bourbon Iced Tea
Yummmm. Jenn did initially cut the sugar down to approx. 1/4 cup, and then we added agave syrup individually to taste based on sweet preferences. Also, go with two shots of bourbon. These were refreshing, light, and oh-so-tasty! (Dog park friends - watch for these to come along on one of our "Dog Park Fridays" - we can make it for a crowd!)
Appetizer - Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp
Home Recipe
Okay, you cannot mess this recipe up! Wrap some shrimp in bacon, pour over some of your favorite barbecue sauce, and grill until done. These are like candy! You will not be able to stop! My only recommendation would be to pre-cook the bacon slightly (like 1 minute or 2 in the microwave), since they take a little longer to cook than the shrimp. And if you're curious, we don't have a favorite barbecue sauce (there's about 10 stockpiled in my cupboard), but we did use Sweet Baby Ray's for this appetizer.
Entree - Braised Beef Brisket with Bourbon-Peach Glaze
Followed the recipe almost exactly, and it was delicious! The braising liquid has an incredible smell that will make your kitchen the room to be in the house. Some tips and tricks... We had a 3lb brisket (served 4) and braised a total of 3 hours. We seared in a heavy skillet, but it was too short for the braising liquids, so moved the beef to a large pyrex, and then after braising liquids were brought to a boil, we poured them over the brisket, covered in foil, and then put in the oven. Also, when you broil, broil it on a foil-lined baking tray... much easier for clean up. And for the glaze... we added about 3 Tbsp of the braising liquid to the bourbon/peach mixture. After we liberally glazed the brisket and put it in the broiler, we then added a few more Tbsp of the braising liquid to make it more of a "sauce" to drizzle over the cut meat. Overall - fork tender, sweet and smoky, and absolutely amazing!
Side Dish - Cole Slaw with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette
Don't be a hero. Use the bagged coleslaw and add the cilantro. Seriously - save yourself some time! This was superb. The cumin-lime vinaigrette gave an amazing taste, and we would even suggest an extra dash of hot sauce, since it paired up so well with the sweet brisket. Can't wait to have this with other grilled dishes.
Side Dish - Cucumber Salad
So Jenn's cucumber salad recipe is more of a home recipe, so we included one very similar from Emeril. (She doesn't quite keep track of "how much of this" and "how much of that"... it's second nature by this point.) It was a perfect accompaniment to the meal. Crispy, tangy, and refreshing!
Side Dish - Scalloped Potatoes
Don't judge. They came from a box. We were so busy this weekend, that when it time for a "carb" on the side, we just raised our eyebrows, smacked our foreheads, and rummaged through the cabinets. However, scalloped potatoes from a box are NOT the same as the real ones. In fact, the only reason I am posting about them is because when I have a picture of the final plate, they will be on there, and I didn't want anyone coming back to me saying "why didn't you include that recipe."
Side Dish - Texas Toast
So yes, I gave some people a "do you live on Mars" look when they said "what the heck is Texas Toast?" Texas Toast is basically slices of white bread slathered with butter and garlic and then grilled. (Also known as garlic bread, pretty much.) This was a great recipe (we obviously used a Portuguese baguette instead of plain white bread - its what was available) but I suggest more garlic. (I know, seriously?) Or perhaps, garlic powder or something with a little more bite. Yum yum.
Final Dish
Wine - 2010 Susana Balbo Malbec
International Wine Cellar - 89/100
This Argentinian red is a beautiful deep violet color with exploding aromas of black cherry, blackberry, and violets. On the palate there is a little dark chocolate, tobacco, and smoke. The tannins were a little heavy for us, and upon reading a review online, one taster agreed that this wine may be a little young and could use a little time to relax. It was a great wine, very firm and dense, but overpowered the beef a little, because our brisket ended up being on the sweeter side more than we expected. However, a good wine, and always fun when Greg gives us a hand!
Dessert - Peach Melba
Okay, so this was a "fly by the seat of your pants" type of dessert. We originally planned on a grilled peach melba, but unfortunately the sky opened up and a huge thunderstorm came through during dinner. John looked over at us, and announced that while he would take it for the team, he draws the line at lightning. So we quickly found another recipe and doctored it up. We peeled the peaches (using a vegetable peeler) and poached them as directed. (We used vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean.) We then broiled them with a little vanilla sugar sprinkled on top for a few minutes. At that point, we put some vanilla ice cream in a bowl, topped it with a peach, added some Chambord-soaked raspberries, and sprinkled with a little cinnamon. It was delicious! Many thank you's to Nick who joined us and helped come up with a last minute save.
Dessert Wine - 2010 Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc
I'm an ice wine junkie. I'll say it now. And this Chilean dessert wine did not disappoint! Rich flavors of apricot and honey with a crisp acidity. If you haven't gotten into dessert wines, give this one a shot, it will convert you!
Next Week - TBD
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