Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Trader Joe's BBQ Brisket

Although pork is my favorite kind of barbecue, I also love a nicely smoked brisket. The best I've ever had was at Gates BBQ in Kansas City (although as my friend Zach, a brisket devotee, reminds me, I've never been to Austin.) Elizabeth is also a big fan of brisket, so when we were shopping at Trader Joe's the other day and saw their BBQ brisket, we figured we should give it a try. 

After the epic extra-innings Angels-Yankees game Monday, I was emotionally spent and not in the mood to make anything fancy. (It was nice of the Angels to just completely roll over yesterday so that I didn't have to go through that again.) We had three rolls left over from the weekend's lobster sliders so I decided to make brisket sandwiches and fries. 

While the oil was heating in the deep fryer for the french fries, I sauteed some red onions in the wok. I love red onions and I have always enjoyed them with brisket. The instructions for the brisket were simple: empty it out of the bag, microwave it for a couple minutes, and serve. I have to be honest: I was not expecting much.

It was surprisingly good. There weren't any large pieces of fat, which I'd been expecting, and the sauce wasn't too sweet. If I had been served this at a barbecue restaurant it would have been acceptable, but coming out of a vacuum-sealed bag it was very, very good. My one complaint is that it was too salty. Some of the bites tasted more like beef jerky than brisket. But the sweetness of the red onions and the Hawaiian roll certainly tempered the saltiness.

I will definitely have this again, although, since it's Trader Joe's, who knows how much longer they will keep it around.

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