A brisket to boast about

I swear I grew up eating brisket as often as we ate roast and potatoes. Nothing beats a good, juicy, slow cooked, smoky brisket. For any of you who have purchased this cut of meat before, you'll know it's usually the size of a small child. So when I saw one at Target that I could actually fit in my nice little roasting pan (2 lbs, people), I knew that cut was meant for me.

Usually we just slather it with BBQ sauce and let it simmer for 6 hours, but for lack of BBQ sauce, I scavenged this recipe online. And it's seriously good. It even turned Ryan into a brisket believer. Give it a try.

Barbequed Beef Brisket (as the website said "for those stormy, tornado-watch Texas days")

• beef brisket (no more than 4 lbs)
• 1 cup of white wine (I used chicken broth)
• 3 cups of apple cider (we had 2 scoops of hot apple cider mix and one scoop of wassail, so we improvised...)
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of whole coriander
• 2 tablespoons of firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger powder
• 1/8 teaspoon sprigs of fresh thyme (I used dry)
• 1 chopped chipotle chili in adobo sauce (if you like it spicy... we do)

Combine all the ingredients, minus the brisket, and put it into your roasting pan. Then put the brisket in the pan, fat side up (do NOT trim the fat beforehand). Put the lid on, heat the oven to 275, and stick that sucker in for at least 5 hours.

When you're ready to eat, put the roast on a cutting board (there will be TONS of juice in the pan), and scrape off all the fat on top. It should easily slide off. Then slice the brisket across the grain and smother it in juice from the pan. And put that Bull's Eye away. You won't even need it.

Back in business

Today the sun came out full force, and it hit 61 degrees. It's winter in Utah, and I drove with the windows down--a special treat. It was beautiful!* I'm already dreaming of BBQs and biking (as soon as I find a nice strong pair of chain cutters**).

This past week, Ryan and I were in the basement, and I heard the first sounds of spring--a bird chirping. Or a mouse squeaking. We couldn't be sure, but I'm pulling for the bird.

Anyway, since the weather has decided to awaken from it's winter slumber, I decided I oughta come out of hibernation myself. I'm tired of seeing the link to my blog on yours with an "updated 2 months ago" underneath it. So here we go.

*I'm trying not to get too excited by this bout of nice weather. Spring is such a tease. Every February, he (or she, if you prefer) walks into our lives and invigorates us, flirtatiously treating us to sunshine and hopes of summer. And then one morning, you wake up and he's gone quick as he came, leaving only the ice on your windshield to scrape and a promise that he'll return. Sigh.

**My bike is chained up safe and sound at an apartment I haven't lived in since last summer. Apparently I lost the key to the lock and am now in the market for either chain cutters or an incredibly strong pair of garden shears. Or a new bike.