brisket – Man Knows Food

I can’t say that I’ve ever sought out barbeque in Chicago but recently I had a hankering for some slow cooked meats. Doing some research I landed upon Chicago Q. Chicago isn’t the place I think of when I think about having good barbeque. I tend to think first of Texas then maybe to Kansas City but almost never do I think of Illinois let alone Chicago.

Anyway, I stopped by Chicago Q early on a rainy Saturday night. The place was pretty much empty which to me either means it is not good or I showed up way too early for the dinner rush.

I ordered the ”Flight” from the Low and Slow section on their menu as well as some wings and cornbread. I had mashed potatoes as my side with the flight.

The Flight is served with three meats. Pulled chicken, pulled pork and chopped brisket. You also get to select one side. The mashed potatoes were amazing and came in this nice little cast iron skillet. I also had a piece of corn bread which was a little bit too dry for my liking but not horrible. With enough butter it was pretty good. All of the meats were fantastic. I wish the portions in the flight were slightly larger. I would have liked to see a little bit more meat and less potatoes personally. The chicken wings were dry rub, cooked perfectly and had just the right amount of heat for my pale complexion.

Overall, the food here is great. The drink menu is spectacular and the service was top notch. The barbeque itself will never compare to that of Texas or Kansas City but when I have the desire to consume smoked and slow cooked meats this will definitely be one of the places I visit in Chicago again.

I had a slab of beef brisket leftover from a different meal and I wanted tacos. So naturally I used my sous vide to cook the brisket. It took a whole day but boy they were good.

Set your sous vide to 135 degrees fahrenheit and season your brisket with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Vacuum seal it up and drop it into the sous vide for at least 24 hours.

Once that bad boy has sat for at least 24 hours you can take it out. I let it rest on a butcher block while I heat up my cast iron pan. Get the pan ripping hot and add some oil. I prefer olive oil but you can use whatever you want. Toss the brisket into the pan and let it sear for a few seconds on every side to get a nice crust. Once you have seared it, let it rest again before slicing into smaller bites for your tacos.

I assembled my tacos with some chopped onion, fresh cilantro and cotija cheese. Make your own tortillas for an even better taco!