Barbecued brisket remains a Texas favorite

Dear Heloise: Don’t you have the brisket recipe that you printed? I want to give it a try. Deb H., via e-mail

Barbecued brisket is a favorite here in Texas. The recipe is my husband David’s favorite, and we call it Dilley Digs Brisket. You will need:

1 beef brisket, 8-12 pounds, 2-4 inches thick (not corned beef)

10-20 cloves of garlic, peeled

1‚Ñ4 cup of all-purpose Greek seasoning (contains 13 spices)

To prepare the beef, make deep cuts into the brisket with a paring knife and place garlic into the cut. Liberally sprinkle brisket with Greek seasoning.

To cook the meat, you’ll need an outdoor smoker, charcoal, and mesquite wood soaked in water till thoroughly wet.

To cook the brisket, pour a pile of charcoal into the smoker, light, and let coals burn till hot and gray.

Place mesquite wood over the charcoal to smother the coals so they smoke (there won’t be a flame). Put the brisket, fat side down, on the grill away from the fire/charcoal/wood. Never place meat directly over the fire. Smoke the brisket for two hours (do not turn the meat). Take the meat out and immediately wrap the brisket tightly two times in extra-heavy aluminum foil. (This is an important step.) Put in the oven in a shallow pan at 250 F for two hours. Remove from the oven and let sit (still wrapped in foil) for 30 minutes to one hour before serving. This allows the meat to “firm up” and the juice to be absorbed.

Cut the meat across the grain into thin slices to serve. In San Antonio, brisket and barbecue are served with pinto beans, potato salad, coleslaw, crisp sliced white/yellow onions, sliced dill hamburger pickles and old-fashioned white bread. Heloise

P.S.: Visit my Web site, www.Heloise.com, for more family recipes.

Dear Heloise: I have been single for quite some time and was distressed when so much of what I bought or made went into the garbage, spoiled.

I make large pots of rice and spaghetti and freeze portions in small freezer bags. In freezer trays, I put pesto sauce and turkey gravy to use year-round. Marge in North Caney, Texas

Dear Heloise: Brown sugar can be a problem to measure from a box without spilling. I now buy brown sugar in a 2-pound bag. To measure, I put the cup in the bag, fill it with sugar and use the heel of my hand on the outside of the bag to pack. There are no spills. Liz Dilibert, Somis, Calif.

Dear Heloise: We wash the dishes by hand, but I hate to get started. So I tell myself that I only have to wash 15 dishes. By the time I’ve washed 15, I have made such a good start that I want to finish! Joann Cravens, via e-mail

SBlt Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate