It might have been a wake, but the food...................!!

Our cousin's mom passed a few days ago. The funeral was yesterday with a wake afterward. We volunteered to cook the food because, that's what we do. Our cousins were overwhelmed by out-of-town guests and preparations. The last thing they needed was to try to feed 60 or 70 people.

As luck would have it, I had just installed my new grill on Sunday. I gave it a quick trial with a few brats and decided that it would be ok. It's not like my old clunker but I will get used to it. Besides, this one is a whole lot fancier! The real test came Tuesday. I first, grilled an 11 pound pork shoulder roast. The seasoning wasn't too involved as we were going to make pulled pork BBQ with it. I used the indirect grilling method on my trusty broiler pan @ about 275.

I left it on the grill for just over five hours and basted it regularly with its own juices. After about two hours, I tented it with a piece of foil. I think this helps keep in the moisture while not allowing things to get too dark.
As the pork roast cooked, I prepared a 12 pound beef brisket. This one got a wonderful sugar and chile powder based dry rub. Nothing particularly exotic, just add a little extra zippy enhancement without overpowering the wonderful beef flavor. When the pork roast came off the grill, the brisket went on. I kept the temp the same and followed the ironclad rule: NO looking for two hours! After that, I basted the brisket with its own juices. KISS cooking at its best. 6 hours later I turned off the heat and removed the beef, wrapped it with foil and let it rest for about another hour. Wednesday morning I sliced it thinly and poured some of the left over juice right back over the meat. Oh, I almost forgot, I also baked a big ham in the oven of our outside kitchen while all this other stuff went on. It was wonderful! but..............................

back to the brisket. We managed to get all the food to the wake by about one in the afternoon. everyone was really hungry from all the crying and the pressure was on. In no time at all and with a lot of help, we had a fabulous spread! We used an electric roaster for a makeshift steam table and put the pulled pork and beef brisket in it to stay hot. I was a little nervous as I had never cooked a brisket before. To add to my anxiousness, this is one of my favorite things to eat and it is always made to seem almost impossible to do right. (unless you have a $10,000 trailer mounted smoker, a keg of beer and a half dozen rednecks to keep you up all night cooking, tending and drinking) Now, I am as much a redneck as the next guy, and I am willing to do all that other stuff. If I have a couple of days to recuperate. Time just did not permit that much fun.

The first indication that maybe the beef was ok, was when I noticed one of the guests bragging about how everything but the brisket was fantastic! While talking up all the other food, he was loading his plate with brisket! Several times. At last, he confided, it was the best brisket he had ever eaten. This was a cool thing. Over and over, people raved about our food. Mardi had made a ton of other stuff all while teaching a class. We are so fortunate that an event like this is pretty easy for us to pull off now.

For us to be able to provide a wonderful meal and help lessen the grief of all the guests is truly a gift we are very thankful for. The rest of the day was spent telling stories, drinking and eating. I think everyone went home feeling just a little better, and a lot fuller.

Chow!