The human ego is quite the fickle and hungry beast. Like a female engineer, a male home cook has to tame and nurture that ego like the parent of an intellectually challenged child. For the longest time, I could only rely on the preparation of beef and grillwork to nourish the beast – but thankfully my wife recently gave me a Carhart apron, which has served as ample fresh food for the overcompensating ego.

Brisket Beginning

And so it is with nostalgia, that I find a 5 pound hunk of solid beef brisket on my cutting board at 10:00 pm and a request from my birthday girl for onion braised brisket for another celebration dinner tomorrow. Ah, I’m a man made whole again, I reassure myself as I punch and tenderize the raw brisket with Fight Club abandon. Carhart, meat and punches – I can stand tall again.

Brisket Compression

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story for tonight’s prep work. I’ll be up until 3:00 am tonight as this is a dish you must let sit overnight for best effect, like all fickle egos.

Seared Brisket

If only I could capture the smell in the house right now.

Brisket Onions

Secret ingredient: If you have ever tried the real Hungarian paprika, you know the secret.

Brisket Ingredients

Ahh….

Brisket Ready

That is all from before going into the smoker – the after pictures, well either I didn’t have enough time to take the pictures or my priorities we all out of whack just right.