There’s a lot of things in life that I’m impatient about:
1) Christmas
2) Vacation
3) New seasons of Dexter and Homeland to start
So for me, slow-cooking is a real challenge. I’ve been known to burn an entire layer of skin off the inside of my mouth because I can never wait for things to cool down before I dive into them, because sometimes things just look sooooo goooood that I am willing to sacrifice a burnt tongue and those funny little blisters that form on the roof of my mouth to get that first bite.
And after waiting 6 hours for this Texas Beef Brisket to cook, well let’s just say R.I.P tastebuds.
I found this recipe on Food Network, and after reading a lot of the reviews underneath, it seemed to me that most people used it as a base and then added their own touches to it. Which is exactly what I did, and while sometimes my ‘a little bit of this and a little of that’ can lead to a mess of a dinner, this time I’m pretty sure I nailed it. And what better to serve Texas Pulled Brisket on than buttery biscuits?
Don’t even think about those 100 calorie sandwich thins. Don’t you dare.
Texas Pulled Beef Brisket Biscuit Sliders
*Inspired by Food Network – Biscuit recipe from Alton Brown
INGREDIENTS
For the Brisket:
3-4 lbs of beef brisket
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons chilli powder
1 bay leaf crushed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons stone ground dijon mustard
2 cups beef broth
2 – 12oz cans/bottles beer of your choice
(I used Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale which is like an IPA)
1) Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. In a small mixing bowl, prepare your spice rub by combining all of the spices (from Kosher salt to red pepper flakes). Set aside.
2) In another small mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil and dijon mustard until combined. Then rub the mixture all over the brisket. After the brisket is covered in the dijon marinade, you can then cover it with the spice rub.
3) Place the brisket in a roasting pan and cook uncovered for 1 hour.
4) After an hour, reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Remove the brisket from the oven and add the beef broth and beer to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover with foil and cook for another 3 hours or until the meat has become fork tender and shreddable.
5) Shred the brisket, place the meat in a dutch oven or heavy bottom skillet with the juices from the bottom of the pan and simmer over low heat for 1-2 hours. This step really is optional, but I like to let the meat absorb all the flavors of the juices. You could also take the juices and reduce them in a small saucepan to make a reduction for the brisket.
For The Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup chilled buttermilk
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don’t want the fats to melt.)
3) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
4) Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter (I don’t have a cutter, but the top of a wine glass works great!) Be sure to push straight down through the dough.
5) Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.
6) Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until biscuits are tall and light gold on top.
7) Assemble your sliders by slicing a biscuit and loading it up with shredded brisket.
I had some broccoli slaw that I threw on for a splash of color, but even just on their own, these are little pieces of heaven 🙂
Many apologies for the um – strange angle on this potpie photo.
My plan was to cut a little sliver, then take a picture. But after tasting that little sliver, and then Dave tasting a little sliver, I cut and ate another sliver because the oozy goodness was like a bad drug that I couldn’t get enough of.
And before I knew it, half the pie was gone – oops.
Well I tried my best, and this was just far too delicious not to share with all of you! Adapted from my girl Ina, cuz’ she knows that it doesn’t really matter what the pie looks like, but more so what it tastes like. And it tasted gooooooooooood.
Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie
*Adapted from Ina Garten
INGREDIENTS
*yields 1 – 9″ Chicken Pot Pie
For the Crust
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
For the filling:
4 cups chicken stock
(obviously Ina wants you to use homemade – I however did not)
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter
2 small onions chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
4-6 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cut into cubes
(In a pinch, the pre-cooked Rotissere chickens that you can get at the grocery store are a great option to save some time)
To prepare your crust:
1) Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour.
2) Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas, then with the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. 1/2 cup was plenty.
3) Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In the meantime, you can prepare your filling.
To prepare your filling:
1) In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock.
2) In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic, celery and carrots over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent.
3) Add the flour and blue cheese to the veggie mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock and hot sauce and simmer over low heat stirring, until the mixture starts to thicken. Season with salt and pepper and then add the heavy cream and cubed chicken and mix well.
4) Reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes a thicker, gravy like texture.
5) Take your crust from the refrigerator and split it into two halves. Roll each half out to about 10″ in diameter.
6) Grease your 9″ pie plate with butter or non-stick cooking spray. If you’re using a cast iron skillet like we did, no need to grease the pan beforehand. Place one half of the dough on the bottom, letting the edges hang over, add your filling, and then cover the filling with the other half of the rolled out dough. Cut off any excess dough, leaving just enough to pinch the edges together to seal the pie.
7) Brush the top of your pie with the egg wash.
8) Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the top of the crust becomes golden brown. Let sit for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
And They Cooked Happily Ever After 