Barbequed Brisket

This recipe is from the New York Times, and is a good reason not to be a vegetarian. Make sure the brisket has some fat thereon. You'll chill it and take it all off later.
Here's a link to the web site:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/dining/213mrex.html?pagewanted=print

I browned and cooked the meat in a broiler pan that was about 2.5 inches high. It's hard to turn the meat (used turkey lifters), so be careful. I covered it with 2 layers of heavy duty foil. You want to cook it leaving enough time to cool it so you can remove the solid fat (beaucoup) from the sauce). This normally means cooking it one day early.

The recipe text (not included on the web site) mentions not buying two 2.5 pounds instead of one 5 pound. One other thing. This time of year (high summer) many supermarket don't have big briskets, or if so, they are frozen, so you need to allow for defrost time.

Obviously, not something to make spur of the moment. :)

The stuffed mushrooms as appetizer were from the 1976 Gourmet magazine and were something special, although I greatly cut down the amount of butter. They were something of a pain in the ass to make, because in those days Gourmet gave no quarter. But zowie, were they tasty.

I now have 57 pages, count 'em, in my new manuscript, tentatively title, In Flight. Currently I am researching money laundering and banking in the Cayman Islands, and hoping no one is monitoring my Internet searches, as they might get the wrong idea. Once I researched gambling and got SPAM from the gambling sites for years. I researched moonshine stills in the hills of Georgia for a short story, and pimps for another story.

The moral here is that a writer's searches may encompass lots of weird and even illegal stuff. Oh yes, and the transgender research for Festival Madness. The devil is in the details and so it the believability and yea, the writer's authority.

I roamed far from the brisket, another writerly trait that needs reining in. Sometimes.


Grrrrapeshot

The Dinner Party

I've been cooking up a storm for the last two days, and this is what our dinner guests will be eating. The tart looks fab. I sampled the brisket, which was meltingly tender. Can't wait to try the mushrooms. They look scrumptious.

Dinner Menu for July 26, 2008

Stuffed Mushrooms with ham
Roasted Red Peppers with Feta and Pita Chips

Barbequed Brisket of Beef
Rolls
Corn on the cob
House salad with home-grown tomatoes and herbs


Berry and Farmer Cheese Tart

Bellinis
Wine
Beer
Coffee

The Dinner Party

I admit it, when it comes to cooking and entertaining, I do get carried away. Here are some photos from last nights feed. The grilled red pepper and cauliflower salad was very tasty and easy, too. Meat was fork tender with a great flavor. Dessert to die for, but a pain in the ass to make, and I will probably substitute a simpler fruit sauce when I make it again.

The smoked trout appetizer is an old favorite, and would work well with smoked salmon.

Time in the kitchen: approximately 8 hours. Oh well.

One of my favorite art installations is Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. I still remember the awe and excitement when I first saw it with my friend Elaine in Chicago. She and I marched for women's rights. Ah, heady days, and we had lots of dinner parties.

http://www.throughtheflower.org/page.php?p=10&n=2

Grapeshot

Bon appetit!

Dinner Party

Eeek! I haven't posted for days. Two houseguests in residence, and now a dinner party. Yesterday we had a Duck Boat Tour of Boston. Much fun, then on to the Museum of Science for an afternoon of really cool stuff. This is a great museum which should be put on any Boston vacation. The butterfly garden itself is worth the trip.

Last night we had a wonderful Indian feast at Masala in Needham. One can go crazy with just the breads. The youngest guest is a vegetarian and just loves the long menu of stuff that caters to her eating habits. We came home to feast on home made lemon lime ice milk which tastes rich and wonderful and I'm thinking ice milk is a misnomer.

So for tonight I am making a barbequed brisket, salad of red peppers and roasted califlower, rice pudding with fresh poached rhubarb and glaze, corn on the cob, smoked trout on endive with an herbed cream cheese, various appetizer cheeses. Not served in that order, of course.

Couldn't find trout at the fish counter, and had to buy already smoked at Trader Joe's who always reliably stocks it.

Corn came from Ward's berry farm which was aswarm with kids picking strawberries. Cute little girls in sun dresses with pails. Like a impressionist painting.

So now to wrap up details, vacuum, finish laundry, all that stuff and even set the table. Kitchen smells so good.

Bon appetit!

Grapeshot