Are you a Steelers or Packers fan? How close are you to winning your football pool? If it is anything like the scene at our house this Sunday, the TV will be on and the energy will be high. This is not just any ordinary Sunday – it’s Superbowl Sunday.

I came home from the grocery store last weekend to learn that my husband had taught our 18m son a new word – ‘football’ – which sounds more like ‘botball’ right now. The 2 of them sat happily in front of the TV doing an ‘educational’ activity – learning about football. For the rest of the day, while my toddler scooted around saying ‘botball’… it got me thinking that we should grill up something special for this year’s Superbowl game. It may be -21 degrees outside as I write this, but that never stops this house from using the bbq.

Since most of us can’t make it to Dallas for Super Bowl XLV and probably won’t be having as much as fun as the 100,000 screaming fans at Cowboys Stadium, we can at least eat as they do in Texas. Here’s a little bit of bbq - Texan-style – for the game on Feb 6th.

EAST TEXAS BARBECUED BRISKET
Yield: Serves 10-14

5 to 6 pounds beef brisket, untrimmed with thick layer of fat

Rub:

1 tbsp coarse (Kosher or sea) salt

3 tbsp chili power

2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp each celery salt, garlic salt and onion powder

1 tsp each ground cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tsp dark brown sugar

Vinegar-beer Mop Sauce:

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup dark beer

1 tbsp each minced onion, garlic salt, dark brown sugar

1 tsp hot red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Pan drippings from brisket

Rinse brisket under cold water and pat dry.

Combine all the rub ingredients in a bowl and toss with fingers to mix. Rub mixture on the brisket on all sides. Wrap brisket in plastic, marinate in refrigerator overnight.

Combine all ingredients for mop sauce in bowl; stir well.

Set grill for indirect, slow cooking, over hardwood — i.e. mesquite, hickory, apple.

Place brisket, fat side up, in aluminum foil pan, away from direct heat. Close grill top.

Grill until tender, about 6 to 8 hours. Go low and slow.

Baste or mop brisket with mop sauce once an hour for first 4 hours.

When brisket is done, transfer to cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Thinly slice across grain.

Serve as a sandwich or alongside bbq sauce.

—Source: Texas native Jim Walton of Tacoma, Wash.

TYPICAL TEXAS-STYLE BARBECUE SAUCE

1 bottle of Kraft bbq sauce — Original

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 to 2 cups strong, day-old black coffee, divided

1 tsp hot sauce, or to your taste

About 1 tbsp molasses

Mix bbq sauce, brown sugar 1 cup of the coffee and hot sauce in a pan. Heat on medium for 15 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture reduces.

Add the molasses. Add the remaining coffee.

Continue cooking over medium heat just until the sauce incorporates.

Serve at room temperature on the side of bbq’d meat.

—Source: Rick Naug of Edgewood, Wash., owner of Apple Creek Timber Inc., which supplies fruit woods and exotic woods to restaurants and barbecue enthusiasts