Disappointment

There are times when the only thing that will satisfy is barbecue and nothing more disappointing than being all stoked and finding the meal kind of substandard.  Down in Tucson I visited the Brush Fire Barbecue. Now I have been there before and found the food passable, though I couldn't recommend the salmon. The joint is nice, the folks friendly and helpful, and the sauce is good.  Brush Fire is a Tucson based company that slow smokes their meat and has their own rubs and sauces.  Their web site doesn't really give much on history or philopsiphy, though there is an interesting section on their offerings.

On this visit I chose the brisket sandwich.  I view brisket as the Everest of barbecue because it is
tough to get just right and use it as a benchmark for the bbq joints I try.  I always ask for the sauce on the side -- I want to taste the meat and don't want flavors, texture, and tenderness hidden under the sauce.  I found the meat very flavorful, good rub, and good smoke. They serve it chopped in little bits rather than sliced, which is fine, but the small fragments of brisket couldn't conceal the fact the meat was dry and was a chore to chew.

All that being said, I will probably go back as my grandkids love the place and I do want to try their ribs. I'll try to remember to update this post if and when I try the ribs.  Brush Fire is all right, not qa favorite, but then one man's dry and chewy is another man's best ever.

Skirting the Issue

The Rio Mirage is one of my favorite Mexican joints in the Far West Valley, serving up delicious dishes since the early 70's.  I usually opt for the “Ocho” when ordering to get my tamale on, however, during the last visit to the Surprise, AZ location I decided to try the Carne Asada to change things up a bit. The Chef at the Rio uses top sirloin and what could be better than that, right?  The dish arrived and was flavorful, hot, as well as dry and tough.  The Top Sirloin makes the Carne Asada sound pretty upscale but is not the best choice for this particular situation.  It dawned on me that skirt steak would be the way to go, providing both tenderness (if sliced properly) as well as flavor and a chat with my server for the evening confirmed that – he uses skirt steak seasoned with a little garlic salt, allowing the taste of the meat to be the star vice the seasonings.

Skirt Steak

Enter Alton Brown – you remember him from “Good Eats” and now starring on YouTube, brimming with good advice and humor as is to be expected.  What does this have to do with skirt  steak one might ask?  One of his YouTube offerings is video on...wait for it...skirt steak!  Seems our video chef takes the same minimalist approach to skirt steak as does my server – salt and extreme heat.  Season the meat with kosher salt and allow it sit for about an hour at room temp (yep room temp, it won't be a problem as you'll see in a second).  Make a fire in the grill with with natural lump charcoal and after the coals get going, spread them to form a bed roughly the size of the piece of meat.  Drop aforementioned skirt steak on directly on the coals  (goodbye bacteria) and leave it for about two minutes (always pay close attention) then flip it and do the other side. Pull the steak, knock any bits of charcoal trying to hitch a ride and then wrap it in foil leaving the meat to sit for 15 minutes.

Now, I did take my servers advice and sprinkle on a little  granulated garlic before casting my steak into the fire, which accentuated the beefy goodness that is the skirt steak.  Be sure to slice the steak across the grain or you'll need an ax to cut it, however, sliced properly it is tender and mouth watering – you'll be lucky if it even makes it to the table.