Sriracha-Braised Beef Brisket Sandwich

"Hot sauce must be hot. If you don't like it hot, use less."

David Tran, creator of Sriracha Hot Sauce

I love beef brisket. When cooked properly, it's incredibly moist and tender. And while hardcore brisket fans will tell you that brisket must be slow cooked for hours and hours in a smoker, I'm here to tell you that you can get a perfectly cooked brisket in just 4 hours...in your oven! All you need is a good roasting pan with a cover.

I also love Sriracha sauce...the perfect amount of heat to spice up any food you put it on. And Sriracha takes beef brisket to a whole new level when you use it as a braising sauce...and then again as a crowning condiment for your sandwich.


INGREDIENTS

1, 4-pound beef brisket, trimmed
8  buns, toasted

For the Rub
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin

For the Braising Liquid 
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup Sriracha sauce, plus more for serving


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Combine rub ingredients. Season brisket on both sides with the rub.
3. Place brisket in the bottom of a roasting pan. Roast uncovered for 1 hour.
4. While brisket is roasting, combine braising liquid ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly.
5. When brisket has finished roasting for the hour, remove roasting pan from oven. Remove brisket from pan. Pour braising liquid into roasting pan and return brisket to pan. Cover pan tightly with foil and then seal with roasting pan lid. Lower oven temperature to 300º.
6. Return pan to oven and cook for 3 more hours.
7. When done cooking, slice brisket thinly, put slices onto buns and add more Sriracha on top of beef. Serve.

Wine Pairing: A big, fruity Zinfandel

Grogs & Goldie, 1956

Easy Easter Ham

It's Easter on Sunday. Time for another family meal. You better have a Costco membership card in your wallet...otherwise you will miss out on one of the greatest epicurean delights known to modern man. Kirkland ham. Bone-in and spiral sliced. Pre-cooked. Hickory smoked. I'm here to tell you it is the greatest ham you will ever taste.

Not only is the taste of this ham astounding, the price will absolutely blow you away. I just bought mine this morning and it was only $1.89 a pound. Cheaper than ground beef. Cheaper than wieners. Cheaper than that 47-week supply of Kirkland toilet paper. You've gotta be plum crazy not to take advantage of this. The world's greatest ham at the world's greatest price.

The ham also comes with a package of glaze. My advice.....throw the glaze away the minute you get home. The pit master has put the absolutely perfect amount of hickory smoke in this ham. The glaze is over-the-top sweet and detracts from hickory greatness.

So let's tick off the boxes. World's best tasting ham. World's cheapest ham. And now for the trifecta...world's easiest recipe.


Ingredients
One Kirkland spiral sliced ham (7-10 pounds)
Aluminum foil
1 cup water


Directions

1. Remove ham from store packaging and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
2. Add water to bottom of slow cooker, then add ham and cover.
3. Turn slow cooker to high for 1 hour, then low for 8 hours.
4. When done, remove foil and serve.

Wine pairing: A big, fruity Zinfandel

Grogs and Goldie, 1956

Italian Sausage and Gnocchi Soup

If you are into eating healthy, it's best you saddle up and ride on out right now. There is not much healthy in this recipe. You would correctly point out that the tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms are indeed healthy. But they are offset by a killer's row of scrumptious but no so healthy compatriots: hot Italian sausage, potato gnocchi, heavy cream, butter and flour. But I will make no apologies to you for the fact that you will feel like Jaba the Hut after you consume this meal. What I am presenting to you today is simply the most delicious soup I have ever tasted in my 66 years of traveling around the sun. Period. Fini.

To hit this high standard, I must offer several caveats. First, it must be HOT Italian sausage. If it's sweet or mild, you will not be leaving the starting gate. Only potato gnocchi will do. And it must be heavy cream. Don't even think about using Half & Half, lest you desire to spend the rest of your days burning in the skillet of Hades. And you must serve this with a fresh, crusty loaf of French bread. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.


Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
8-ounces sliced button mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried Turkish oregano
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2-1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
1, 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 pound potato gnocchi

1 loaf French bread (for dipping in the soup!)


Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sausage, onions, mushrooms and seasonings. Cook, breaking up the sausage as you go, until onion is translucent and sausage is fully cooked.
2. Add broth, heavy cream and tomatoes. Let simmer while you prepare roux.
3. In a separate small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour and stir constantly until mixture is bubbly and a thick paste forms.
4. Stir the roux into the soup and bring to a low boil, stirring regularly. The soup will thicken within 1-2 minutes.
5. Add gnocchi. Simmer soup for 5 minutes and serve in individual bowls.

Wine pairing: Brunello di Montalcino

Grogs and Goldie, 1956

Grilled "Carne Asada" Shrimp

Wait. What's going on here? Carne Asada, a Mexican favorite, is a dish of grilled and sliced beef. It is usually cooked over a wood fire at high heat to impart a charred flavor. The delicious flavor of that beef is obtained by marinating the meat in a concoction of fantastic ingredients. Well, that marinade works equally well for grilled shrimp. Hence, Grilled "Carne Asada" Shrimp. Gather all your friends and fire up your grill!


INGREDIENTS

Marinade
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh, chopped cilantro
1 large jalapeño, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds peeled shrimp


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to mix thoroughly.
2. Place shrimp in a zip lock bag and pour marinade over shrimp. Seal bag and refrigerate for one hour.
3. Prepare a grill for direct cooking over high heat. Remove shrimp from marinade and place shrimp on skewers.
4. When coals are hot, cook shrimp for 2 minutes. Then flip and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from skewers and serve.

Wine pairing: A well oaked Chardonnay

Grogs and Goldie, 1956