Salt and pepper eggplant salad

Ingredients

• 1 Large Red Onion
• 1 Large Eggplant
• 2 Tbsp Black Pepper Corns
• 1 Cup Plain Flour
• 2 Tbsp Salt
• 1/4 Cup Vinegar
• Extra flour
• 1/2 Cup Oil for frying

Method

Slice the onion thinly. In a generous bowl, mix the onion, 1 Tbsp of salt and the vinegar and mix it well with your hands to get a good coating onto the onion. Leave it sit while you cook the eggplant.

Cut the eggplant into 1.5cm-2cm thick slices. If your eggplant tends to be bitter, salt the slices for 5 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. I generally don't bother.

Crush the pepper medium fine in a mortar.

Make a thin batter with the flour, pepper and a pinch of salt - just add water and keep stirring until the batter runs like thick pouring cream.

Heat the frying pan before you put oil in it. Pour oil in the pan until it is about half a centimetre deep. The level will go down with each batch, so top it up as you go. The oil should be hot enough that the batter sizzles as soon as it hits the oil.

Fry the eggplant: Take each slice, dredge it with flour - don't worry too much if it doesn't stick very well, then dip it in the batter and lay it in the pan. Note: always place, never drop, items in hot oil so that the last bit goes in facing away from you. That way, if it does splash, it splashes your splashback, not you.

Give them about 2 minutes on the first side, then another minute or so on the flipside. Then drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle a little salt on them while they are hot.

Drain the onion. Rinse it in water - just enough to remove any excess salt.

Serve the eggplant with a spoonful of onion.

Notes

The eggplant should be creamy and soft. Use the first one to fine-tune the heat and timing. If it is leathery and undercooked, reduce the heat and extend the cooking time. If it's too dark, turn down the heat, if it isn't brown enough, turn the heat up.

If you don't like raw onion, try this light pickle preparation. It takes all of the heat and some of the headiness out of it. What's left is the savoury flavour and a crispy bite. The sourness of the vinegar balances the oil in the eggplant.

Need no Teef to Eat My Beef

My first attempt at Texas Barbeque Brisket. Done right, the flesh of this very tough cut of meat is rendered soft, yet remains moist. The 'bark' - the crusty surface of the meat - is crunchy and ever-so-slightly burnt.

I didn't quite get it right, because the 'bark' lost its crunchiness. In the spirit of scientific inquiry, the following recipe is a record of my not-quite-there attempt.

This is an emotionally challenging dish. The long cooking time and the uncertainty about temperature when cooking with charcoal make it an effort of will not to constantly check the progress. Keep the faith and remember that each time the lid comes off, the temperature will plummet and will take time to recover.
While researching the recipe, I came across House Park Bar.B.Que's extraordinary claim: "Need no Teef to Eat my Beef". I didn't believe it was possible, but I got a great thrill when I finally dropped the beef on a chopping board and saw it wobble like a plate of jelly!

Serves 8-10
Cooking time: 8 hours
Preparation time: 1 hour

Special Equipment

Weber kettle or similar style barbeque.

Ingredients

Butcher

Amount	Unit	Item	Description
3	kg	Beef Brisket	A whole brisket is 5-6 kg. Get a piece from the pointy end. Buy quality beef or expect the end product to be dryer than it should be. I used brisket from Cape Grim

Dry Store

Amount	Unit	Item	Description
2	tsp	Mustard powder	Don't be tempted to use prepared mustard. Beef and mustard go hand in hand. I will double the amount next time
3	Tbsp	Black pepper corns	Yes its a lot, but there is a lot of meat with a small surface area. Start with whole pepper - the rose and nutmeg scent of fresh pepper does not have much of a shelf life. If you use supermarket cracked pepper, you will get the heat without the aromatics.
1	Tbsp	Sugar	Don't overdo it or it will just burn
1	Tbsp	Onion powder	Adds a real savoury flavour
4	tsp	Smoked paprika	...plus a touch of cayenne if you really like it hot
2	Tbsp	Sea salt
50	ea	Barbeque charcoal	Different brands vary in size quite a bit. I used quite large ones. This amount completely filled the two cages in the Weber
6	ea	Fire starters	Hexamine-type solid fuel. 6 is a bit OTT, but it will get things cranking pretty fast

Method

Prepare the beef. Trim some of the thickest bits of fat off the surface of the brisket (or ask the butcher to). Keep the offcuts. Rub the salt into the beef - give it a good massage for a couple of minutes. Leave it rest - overnight if you can, but at least until the fire is ready.

Light my fire. If you haven't used a Weber style barbeque before, it's pretty simple, but it does take a bit of experience to do it well. The hexamine will burn for about 15-20 minutes. The charcoal beads will be ready to cook with in about 40 minutes.

Jerk your meat. Crush the peppercorns in a mortar very coarsely. Add the mustard powder, sugar, onion powder and paprika. Rub this mixture into the beef - again, give it a good massage.

Cook the A side. The coals should be red hot and ashed over. Push the coals to the sides of the kettle. Put a drip tray filled with water into the bottom of the kettle. Wrap up some wood chips in foil. Poke some holes in the foil and put the package directly on top of the coals. Put the meat on the grill so that there is no direct heat under it. Put some large bits of fat offcuts around the meat, tucked in close. Close the lid and resist the urge to look at it again for 2 hours.

Cook the B side. Remove the packet of wood chips. Turn the meat over. Check the offcuts - this is your thermometer. If the temperature is about right, they will be slightly charred underneath, but will still have some moisture in them. Put them on top of the meat - they will continue to render and baste the meat as it cooks. Top up the water in the drip tray if it needs it. Distract yourself with an interesting task for another 2 hours.

Apply the crutch. Lay out some foil on a tray, shiny side up. Overestimate how much you need to completely wrap the beef. Lift the beef onto the foil. Quickly wrap it up and put the beef, on the tray, back in the kettle. Wrap it firmly so as not to leave too much air in the package. Leave it to cook for another 3 hours.

...and hold.... I unwrapped the beef right away so I could cut off a chunk for my brother (it was his Weber). I gave it another layer of foil and shoved it into an insulated bag for the trip to Kat's. It sat in her oven on low for another hour before we ate.

Eat and make merry 

Sit in the shade with a cool sangria, some corn chips and salsa and watch the river carry the day downstream while your guests arrive.

Slice the beef against the grain. You will need a sharp knife to avoid crushing it. If you have a large piece including the point, the grain on one end is perpendicular to the grain on the other (I actually sliced it the wrong way, but it was so tender that didn't make a huge difference).

Build your own burgers at the table. Pickles are essential, as is a side of fresh, crunchy coleslaw. This would also go well with a beetroot salad. A crisp, over-chilled pilsner makes great company with this meal.

Follow up with ice-cream sundaes. If you really want to impress, try your hand at a bombe Alaska.

Sip an aged bourbon and smoke a cigar while you digest and ponder the issues of the day.

Notes

Credit must go to the web site AmazingRibs.com for their encyclopaedia of brisket. Their advice on buying, preparing and cooking brisket was indispensable.

If you are in Brisbane, I can recommend Meat at Billy's for excellent service and products.

The price break between an 'ordinary' brisket, at $10/kg, and the high quality, Cape Grim product, at $16/kg, is pretty steep. I'd like to try this recipe out with the cheaper option sometime at least to get a feel for the consequences of that choice. Sometimes, good enough is good enough. I'd probably add another couple of hours to the cooking time.

The crutch really softened up the crust. Next time, I will give it 5-10 minutes on each side with direct heat to try to crisp it up again. Another alternative might be to reduce the heat, increase the cooking time and dispense with the crutch. Maybe cook overnight for a lunch-time feast.

In the absence of a Weber, a tolerable alternative would be to cook in an oven set to around 140-160°C. Serve with a good quality smoky barbeque sauce to restore some of the delicate smoky flavour.