beef brisket part 1

my brother said he wanted to hang out on saturday. we were planning on getting some super good fish and making homemade sushi but then that plan fell through. i'd been pondering what i could make for him and a few other family members and friends instead when i was inspired by paul lukas's meat bracket.

a friend sent me that link and said, "a tournament bracket you might care about." boy was he right! at first i thought i'd try my hand at the competition favorite - standing rib roast. then i found out how much standing rib roast costs (EGADS!) so i needed an alternative plan.

beef was still on the brain though so i consulted a few of my favorite cooking/recipe websites and blogs and came across a pioneer woman recipe i'd looked at many times before -
beef brisket.

if you know me at all then you know i live (and would die most likely) for good bbq. good smoked brisket is sooooooooooooo good. so, so, so good. but i don't have a smoker. or any other fancy equipment and according to the pioneer woman i don't need one for good brisket.

so, where would i get a big ol' slab of brisket...hmmm..... a while back another friend told me about kirbie's family meats in stow but i hadn't had a chance to get out there yet. this was my chance! i called 'em and they confirmed that they did in fact have beef brisket and lots of it.

i headed there straight from work.

when i got there i saw a bunch of small pieces of trimmed brisket (intended for corned beef i'm sure) in the case for $5.99/lb. what? that wouldn't do at all.

i said, "i need a big ol' slab with lots of fat on it. you got that?" and of course, because kirbie's family meats is a small, family run, locally owned butcher and specialty shop they did. he brought out a big ol' slab and said, "it's $2.50 per pound. this one is 12 1/2 pounds."

i said, "i'll take it!" and here it is.



here are all the fixin's for pioneer woman's marinade.



i mixed all of that (beef consomme, lemon juice, soy sauce, liquid smoke and chopped garlic) together and then added the brisket to the giganto roasting pan i bought a few years back when i hosted thanksgiving.



and again.



then i covered that baby good and tight with a bunch of foil.



i stuck this in the fridge and it's gonna stay there for the next 36 hours.

stay tuned for part 2.