The Robb Walsh Texas Eats Dinner Party

(Post by Chris Hoyt)

Put on your ear muffs Texas ’cause your not going to like this one bit.

I smoked a brisket on a natural gas grill.

Now before you go raising all kinds of hell about it, hear me out.

In my own defense, it was the Sunday following a certain South By South Saint Patrick’s Saturday and I ain’t got more than a wink of sleep since this whole festival mess started on account of work and what not. So I’ll beg your pardon if I was feeling a bit low down, beaten, bedraggled and defeated. I was running late and didn’t feel like playing Prometheus with a charcoal fire.  It’s called laziness folks. Ask your parents about it.

So yeah, I smoked every bit of those 3 delicious pounds and 49 ounces on a Hank Hill special and by god, I did it well.  Although,  I suppose most of the credit goes to Robb Walsh and his newest cookbook Texas Eats.

Which leads us to…..

The Robb Walsh Texas Eats Dinner Party

Mr. And Mrs. Brooks where kind enough to host our dinner party at Grigsby Manor and it was an absolutely delightful evening.  (Although from all the yelling in the living room, I think it’s safe to assume that Big Jim’s NCAA bracket is gonna need a pair of crutches, maybe even a wheelchair.)

And as much as I could just jaw on and on about that perfectly cooked cut of cow now gone, I realize that it ain’t supper till you got some spoon vittles to top off on.  So here’s the colorful cast of culinary characters who made supper something worth sharing.

Danielle Howe

Danielle knows perfume the way I know barstools and John Barleycorn.  She also knows a thing or two about making  guacamole.  That bowl of guac didn’t stand a chance in this crowd.  It lasted about as long as a show with space cowboys on Fox. Danielle was also kind enough to bring some Rooster Beak (pico de gallo ) for when the crowd got peckish ……..do you see what I did there.  It’s called word play. Haw.

As a side note, Danielle drives a pink scooter. I’m not sure if she’s named it yet, but I think Molly Ringwald might fit the boot.

Jamison Reaves

Jamie made Tomatillo Salsa, and all you need to know about that is Jamie grilled the onions even though the recipe said nothing of the sort.  According to Jamie, he already had the grill going for the tomatillos and just couldn’t seem to help himself.  Well Jamie, I hope you’re happy.  Maybe we should have just called this the Jamie Reaves Does Whatever the Hell He Wants Dinner Party.  That’s not to say the salsa wasn’t delightful Jamie.  I’m just worried about how Robb Walsh is going to take your little indiscretion. Jamie also made vanilla bean ice cream (soup) with his fabulous electric ice cream machine.  It went well with the peach cobbler buddy.

Which brings us to……

Mandy Brooks

Let me just say that Mandy’s sweet little pup Loretta didn’t give two toots and a holler about my beautifully slow smoked brisket.  But when Mandy pulled her Old Fashioned Biscuit Style Peach Cobbler out of the oven, Loretta like to went Ken Kesey for it.  Oh Loretta, you Merry Prankster. And here I thought I was a sucker for the southernly sweet, but you Loretta, you take the cake….or cobbler as it were.

Christopher J Hoyt

I may have previously mentioned the brisket I slow smoked with only the finest of water-steeped apple wood chips, but have I mentioned the Mustard Barbecue Sauce I made for said brisket? Fans of Luling City Market barbecue sauce, best pay attention.

Some pico here, salsa there, and a healthy squirt of stove top sauce on some slow smoked meat.  Add that to a flour tortilla fresh off the iron and boy howdy, does Robb Walsh knows his Texas Eats.

Robb Walsh will be here at BookPeople to speak about & sign Texas Eats on Sunday, March 25, 4p. We’ll have refreshments on hand courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewing Company.