Slow Cooker Brisket with BBQ Sauce and Sweet & Sour Baked Beans

The Dude was gone for a few days and knowing that there are a handful of things in this world that make The Dude truly happy, I set about to make him a welcome home meal that would knock his socks off.

I recently acquired a slow cooker, after my friends dragged me into it, kicking and screaming. The first time I used it I made Cuisine At Home's Slow-Cooker Macaroni and Cheese. That came out divine and deadly. My second meal was Cooks Illustrated's Pulled Pork. This will have been the third time I'm cooking in the thing and I turned to CI again. There is an inherent trust with Cooks Illustrated. Whatever I make, I am 99% of the time successful.

Classic Homemade BBQ Sauce

Start with the BBQ because while it simmers and thickens, you can make the rub and apply to the brisket. Remember to gather your ingredients and do your "mise en place" (basically measure out as many of your ingredients as possible) so it all comes together uneventfully and you're not running around doing the explode-a-kitchen as things start to happen.

Slow-Cooked Beef Brisket

While your BBQ Sauce simmers and thickens, gather the ingredients for the brisket. A flat cut brisket (vs. a cut where it looks knobby) is best and ideally you want a brisket with nice fat layer. This is sometimes difficult to determine, as briskets are sold with the fat layer facing down, and the pretty red muscle facing the consumer. But if it's a flat cut you should be fine. Use a 4 - 5 lb brisket here.

Sweet and Sour Baked Beans

You will need a really large saute pan for this dish. While the kale will reduce significantly before the dish goes in the oven, you are going to want room to work with, considering it's 8 cups of the greens and two cans of kidney beans.

That Facebook Thing...

I swear I keep wanting to put down my thoughts about the virtues of Facebook, but keep holding back because really, what else is there to add? It’s all been written, whether by Time Magazine or the Times of Mumbai.

Plus, we are reminded on a daily basis that only losers and pedophiles and the psychologically damaged actually have relationships that thrive in the eerie glow of a screen. So why would I want to extol the virtues of some website when I am not a member of the aforementioned group of outcasts? (A piece of website that has racked up a bazillion users, mind you, but that’s a business school article that I’d enjoy writing about as much as I’d enjoy waterboarding...)

I am a Diva after all, and a damn good mom, wife and cook yet I feel it is up to me to defend the reputation of the social and cultural paradox that is Facebook–after all, it’s neither a face nor a book…Talk amongst yourselves…

OK! Who Caught the Catfight Between Gruden and Jaws?!

OHHH EMMM GEEEE! Did you guys catch the pre-game bitch-slap fest between Gruden and Jaws?? I was dying laughing! Here's a synopsis. Pay me later.

Gruden:"Well, you should know, having thrown 180 interceptions!"
Jaws: "It was 164!"
Gruden: "Well none of them seemed to bother you, no wonder Vermeil got out of coaching after he was done coaching you for ten years..."
Jaws: "Oh yeah, you coaching geniuses, you are control freaks: 'oh Brett you called an audible I'm taking you out of the game'..."
Gruden: "You fumbled 39 times and lost all of 'em!"
Jaws: "[totally inaudible crap from poor Jaws]"
Gruden: "No I gotta tell you the Philadelphia Eagles will never forgive you for all the [cut to commercial]..." 

Meanwhile Tirico, bouncing like a beach ball in the catfight, looks at his watch and, visibly pained, sighs, looks up and says, "kick off is next..." while the music cues in just as it does when it interrupts a Too-Long-Oscar-Speech...And we go to commercial...

Oh my I am HOWLING laughing!!! Ya think Gruden had it in for Jaws? I mean how DID he pull all these stats out of his ass at the last second...Oh my...this was worth the wait!!!

Please deposit a dollar in the basket by the door.

It's the Worst Possible Time of the Year

In order for this day to not turn into a complete bust, I decided I would run out and get ahead on some errands, realizing that this cold/head/chest thing is getting progressively worse. So The Captain and I popped into Old Navy to buy a bunch of basic layering Ts and leggings, and a couple of pants for Tenille who suddenly last week, and with the worst possible timing EVER, outgrew all her clothes.