Repurposed BBQ + Vino. Trying to pair brisket & wine? Easy Peezey.

Wine X Staff

Wine X Online

If you watch or read enough of the bohemian foodporn stuff out there, you know that Texas-style brisket is a thing. And because it’s a thing, basically all BBQ is a thing. Ribs, Pork butt, whatever you can smoke is a bridge drug to taking a ride on the brisket train. Wooo Wooooo

So, here’s the thing, I’m not going to pretend to tell you how to smoke anything. If you want to learn, go find Aaron Franklin’s or Meat Church’s YouTube videos as a start. No, what I wanna do is bring it all back to what we love…. Vino….. And a little practical help dealing with all of your leftovers

Pairing Vino & Texas Brisket

Let’s get right to it. The wine part. Pairing wine with BBQ requires a little check sheet o’ questions first before we can boogie on down to business…… when we say Texas brisket or Texas BBQ, what you’re really talking about is meat smoked low-n-slow, seasoned primarily with coarse salt and black pepper, and NOT SAUCED….. Like, you can get sauced later, and I don’t mind helping with that, but the non-sauce thing on Texas BBQ is a big dog deal. It also really impacts what you drink with it.

Most BBQ sauces are some sort of molasses & ketchup mixture with someone’s secret additions. If your meat is slathered in some sort of sauce, then you really need to go google “What wine goes with super sweet candy” or something like that. If you’re still on board, keep reading.

What distinguishes Texas BBQ to me is its high-fat, and high spice combo….. plus the impact of the wood that turns to smoke. Most people, off-the-cuff, are gonna go STRONG-versus- STRONG on this little conundrum…… and pick a Zin or a Viognier….. but I’m not so sure either is really a good pick. Here’s the thing, fighting the strong-vs-strong battle on the spice and oak is a losing battle. You cant….. It won’t be awful, but I think you’ll find that your glass simply & honestly doesn’t stand up well to the protein.

Take a lil’ think on this….. What if, when making your wine pick, you try to attack the fat and salt? That kinda opens up a whole world of bottles you might have immediately passed over.

Think about it. You know I’m right.

So here’s what I’m suggesting…… punch the high fat in the mouth with a medium to high acid wine….. And kick the salt in the jewels with something super crisp and fruity. That takes you in a whole different direction than Zin.

Reds:
Pinot (shocked?)
Grenache
Syrah/Shiraz
Petite Sirah

Whites:
Sauvignon Blanc
Dry Reisling
Some Chenin Blancs

So….. now that we knocked out the BIG stuff, let’s talk about the almost as big…. Which is of course the leftover brisket…. Unless you invited ALL of your friends, chances are that you have a few pounds of brisket leftover. And chances are you that you ate so much that you need to do something else other than just a reheat.

Two quick up-cycles…. Both are purdy darned good.

Brisket Tacos

Quick descrip’: you’re gonna cook up a slurry of beef and green chillis, and serve on warm corn tortillas. This one is so easy, my cat could do it

INGREDIENTS
One small sweet yellow onion
Two cups beef broth
One cup of roasted green chilis (fresh if you can get ‘em, canned if you cant)
2 Tbls corn oil
3 Tbls flour
1-2 lbs leftover brisket, trimmed
Tortillas – I prefer white corn
Cilantro
A mild cheese

The path to Nirvana starts here……

1. Coursely cut the yellow onion and sautee in a medium pan in the corn oil over medium heat
2. Add the green chilis to the onions when the onions become translucent
3. Add the flour and stir everything together into what will look like a roux.
4. Add the brisket and broth, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook until the mixture thickens
5. Serve on warmed corn tortillas with a white mozzarella or monterey jack & pico de gallo & sour cream. All are optional.

Faux Brisket Pozole

So, it’s not really pozole, and I don’t know that I can really claim it’s close, but it’s a decent attempt. If I get hate mail, I am just gonna cut and paste the prior sentence as my reply

INGREDIENTS

3 lb. of whatever ‘Que you’ve got… brisket, ribs, pork, etc.
Kosher salt – to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large sweet yellow onion, course cut
1 tsp. cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp. whole clove
1/2 bag o slices carrots
4 sc. low-sodium chicken broth
2 dried ancho chiles, de-stemmed
2 dried guajillo chiles, de-stemmed
2 dried chiles de arbol, de-stemmed
3 (13-16-oz.) cans hominy, drained
Thinly sliced radishes, for garnish
Thinly sliced green cabbage, for garnish
Freshly chopped cilantro, for garnish

Now… here’s where it gets real

1. Put the Que into a huge pot & turn heat up to medium…. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, cloves, cumin seeds, and all of the broth.
2. Take a look at what you have and then add enough water to cover the whole thing by at least 2 inches.
3. Bring yo’ stuff to a boil, then cover it (this is where you get mad at me for just now telling you that your big pot needed a cover…. Cheers to finding the cover now…. sorry) and reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Let simmer 1 ½ hours, skimming foam off the top as necessary. ( I skim a lot….. Just FYI)
5. Put the dried chiles into a medium bowl and pour 2 cups totally boiling water on top & then let the stuff soak for 15-20 minutes.
6. Place soaked chiles and about 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid into a blender. Blend until smooth.. You may need to add more of the liquid so don’t throw it away before you blend.
7. Add the chile puree and hominy to the pot.
8. Continue to simmer, covered, for about an hour. Because your proteins are pre-cooked, you don’t need to go longer than when your mixture comes together to the taste you want.
9. Salt and pepper liberally….. You just gotta close yo’ eyes and do as I say.
10. Serve pozole with radishes, cabbage, and cilantro……On top of each individual bowl