A Smoked Brisket and Potato Casserole

September 22nd, 2013

My husband has been obsessed with a new toy recently.  It has been fine with me because I never have to do any work to get the main dish on the table.  For a full week we have had such dishes as smoked butterflied chicken,  thick cut grilled steaks, pork ribs and this excellent smoked brisket.  Here is a picture of his new obsession.

It is a ceramic Kamado grill.  It is not a Green Egg, more like a Brown Egg.  We got such a deal on it that all thoughts of holding out for a Green Egg went out the window.  Plus it is made exactly the same.  David is very happy with it.  I took this picture after he took the brisket off of the grill.  All of the temperature probes were left dangling.  But notice that the gas grill has been shoved aside and the Kamado has pride of place under the umbrella.

David cooked the 4 pound brisket for 8 hours.  What you see is not burned.  That is the bark that develops after a long slow smoking on the grill.  If you are not smoking a whole brisket which can weigh from 10 to 12 pounds, the cut you should use is the second cut, sometimes called the point or the deckle.  Most supermarkets sell the first cut, or flat.  It is leaner, but is also tougher.  That is why most people braise a brisket in liquid.  You can find the second cut at specialty stores such as The Chop Shop in Asheville.  Or you can ask your local butcher for this cut.  All you will ever need to know about cooking a brisket on the grill and the recipe that David followed can be found on this website.

With the brisket I wanted to make a special potato dish.  I adapted a recipe from David Rocco for a potato cake.  Mashed potatoes are cooked in a casserole with bacon, sauteed onions and Parmesan cheese.  They are topped with cracker crumbs.  The potatoes were perfect with the brisket.  Here is the recipe.

POTATO CAKE

8 medium potatoes, peeled
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
6 slices bacon, chopped and cooked crisp
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cook potatoes in water to cover until tender.  Drain.  Place butter, cubed into a large bowl.  Using a potato ricer, rice potatoes into bowl over butter.  Add milk and mash together.  When partially cool, add beaten egg.

After bacon is cooked, place on paper towels.  Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.  Add onion and cook until onion is slightly browned.  Add bacon, onion and Parmesan cheese to the potatoes and mix together.

Place potato mixture into a greased casserole dish.  Mix crushed crackers with melted butter and sprinkle over the top.  Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until cracker crumbs are golden brown.

Printable recipe

 

12 responses to “A Smoked Brisket and Potato Casserole”

  1. Sam Hoffer says:

    Everyone’s husband should have one of these, including mine. How fun. And I love the presentation of the potatoes Penny.
    Sam

  2. Penny @ The Comforts of Home says:

    We have talked about a Green Egg for a while now. Sounds like your brand is just as good! That brisket looks great and the potato recipe sounds good too.
    Hugs,
    Penny

  3. Karen (Back Road Journal) says:

    With that beautifully cooked brisket, who needs green. Your potato cake sounds like a perfect accompaniment.

  4. Lea Ann says:

    I’m really wishing we had a smoker. Maybe a good Christmas present this year. Larry is here and he’s going to teach me how to smoke on our gas grill. I think he’s doing ribs. Anyway, I love this potato dish. Pinned so I don’t forget to give this one a try.

  5. Dave Scott says:

    BEAUTIFUL!!! Every time a new smoker is used, an Angel gets his wings!

    CONGRATS to your David!

    Oh, and the tater cakes look OK too 😉

  6. larry says:

    Congrats David on the new cooker – your brisket looks delicious and Penny, your potato dish is going on the try soon list. As you may recall, Chris Grove is an egghead and master of the ceramic cooker so he can be a wealth of info for you as can the egghead forum. Happy Cooking.

  7. katiezel says:

    We’ve had a smoker (not an egg of any color) for years… Love it. You need to try smoked pasta (it’s on my blog). It’s one of our favorites. Glad he’s having fun.

  8. Barbara Williams says:

    Oh, you are so lucky Penny! Your David is coming up with some fabulous main courses. Wish I could share them. No cooking outdoors anymore where I live. 🙁
    What fun to experiment with the smoker.
    Your potato cake is a winner too!

  9. Karen says:

    Oh, that meat looks just perfect!

  10. Chris says:

    His brisket turned out great. Meathead (author of AmazingRibs) does a great job with his site, there’s a reason it is the most trafficked bbq site. But he’s also just an all around cool guy.

    Sounds like David is having a blast with his Kamado. I see two temp probes, is he using a Maverick ET732 remote thermometer? Those are good stuff. He’s going to love that smoker even more in the winter since it holds temps great even when it’s snowing out.

  11. […] than anyone else in the world.  My husband David has smoked brisket before.  See the technique here.  Some recipes for smoking a brisket can take up to 18 hours.  But the recipe suggested by Myron […]

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