Waltzing

While driving yesterday,  I heard a great old song, "Waltz Across Texas," sung by Ernest Tubbs.  As I started to write this, I almost wrote, "that great old hymn," for I think that most of us who grew up in Texas experience some sense of reverence when we hear this song.   Certainly my Aunt Frances thought so.

   

Aunt Frances was a spirited, very funny, short round woman whom I dearly loved. She did have a few inner demons to slay, and I am not certain she was ever completely able to annihilate them all.  Few of us can.  However, that combination of traits made her pretty much the perfect aunt. She spent many, if not most of her adult years living in Oklahoma, but in her heart, she always considered herself a Texan.  She was stunned when she heard I was actually getting married, but fortunately, she fell in love with Tyler, and he loved her as well.  He would address her as "My Favorite Redneck," a title she cherished.  She gave him her brisket recipe and knighted him an honorary Texan. Yes, I have lived among royalty.    

So, this rainy morning, in honor of my aunt, I made, not brisket, but brisket's most humble of side dishes, a pot of beans.  The smell took me back to the wonderful kitchens I knew as a child.  It was a rare day when one went into a kitchen where food was being cooked and there would not be a pot of pinto beans on the stove, and skillet cornbread in the oven. If you were lucky enough to be in Amelia's kitchen, you could maybe  get some of her homemade flour tortillas.  In the bunkhouse with Jesus (pronounced hey-soos) at the stove, you just might get some of his wonderful biscuits. My mother's best friend, Arlene, made ethereal rolls.    

  

In honor of cooks, love, food, and all that is good, I will share with you the recipe that Aunt Frances gave me over the telephone.  Unfortunately, I did not date it, but I think this came to us shortly after we moved in this house - over 20 years ago.  I can hear her voice today and I can still hear she and Tyler argue about whether or not brisket could actually be cooked in a oven.

   

1. Put yer brisket in a pan. 

2. Pour a whole bottle (now, not a quart, a bottle) of Liquid Smoke over it. Yer brisket should fill the pan, smoke and all. 

3. Sprinkle with garlic salt, onion salt, and celery salt. Don't use the real stuff because they don't do right. 

4. Refrigerate. Don't cover it. Let it soak.  

 

Next Day 

1. Add Worcestershire sauce. Don't be stingy. Add salt and pepper. 

2. Cover with foil - snug!

3. 275 degree oven for 4-5 hours (pronounced ours), dependin' on whether you want it dry or moist or if you have opted to use a stingy (that is, small) cut of beef. 

4. Then, cover it with one bottle of yer favorite bar-b-que sauce. 

5.  275 degrees for one more hour. 

6.  Take it off the heat and rest. 

7. Slice thin.   

 

Aunt Frances' note to Tyler was, "Be thankful that yer an honorary Texan, or you wouldn't even be readin' this."  Friends, guess that makes you honorary Texans as well!  At least for today. I have very limited powers in such matters.    

 

Warning! We never were able to completely replicate her brisket, and it is an expensive cut of meat. My guess is that in step 4 and 5 you should leave the meat uncovered.  Regardless,  if you are not stingy and try to do right, it will come out fine. Add some beans and cornbread and maybe a recipe or two of your own, a few family members and some friends. Really can't get much better than that.