Barbecue and Longhorn football - it doesn't get any better

This past Saturday I took my youngest on a field trip out to Austin to watch the Longhorns open their 2013 campaign. This season marks the 50th anniversary of the first national championship for Texas. On the way up to the Forty Acres we stopped in Lockhart for some barbecue.

That building you see across the street from the CVS parking lot on US183 is the famous Smitty's Meat Market.

Here's my assistant standing at the entrance to the market. The entrance, by the way, is in the back of the building. The dining area sits in the front of the building on the courthouse square.

Waiting in line for our 'que and staring at the mouthwatering sight of ribs, briskets and sausages on the massive pit.

Here's the business end of the pit. That's an open fire burning at the end of the pit. It was in the mid-90's on Saturday outside and over 100 inside. My daughter thought it was so hot she refused to stand by the pit and sat on a bench instead.

As usual I ordered brisket and sausage. Since we were packing up the meat to eat up in Austin we didn't order any sides (my wife packed a variety of fruits and some edamames for a little balance to our dinner). We had a choice of crackers or good ol' white bread. I chose the bread (for making sandwiches). The meat was wrapped up in heavy duty butcher paper and put into a heavy brown paper sack along with the bread.

The meat smelled heavenly as we made our way up to Austin. After watching the football team walk into the stadium we headed back to our car - parked just behind the Tower - to eat. There are few things better than eating good barbecue on game day out in a parking lot underneath the Tower.

If you find yourself heading out to Austin along I-10, you need to make the side trip out to Lockhart. The barbecue is worth driving a little bit out of your way.

Road trip

Today was a road trip Wednesday. I had a client with a commercial driver's license who got a speeding ticket up in Brazos County. Since he had a CDL our only choices were to plead the case or try it. He chose to go to trial.

Now it's one thing to try a case on your own turf - but trying a case on someone else's turf is quite another story. After we finish questioning the jury panel the judge asked us if we were ready to make our strikes. Um, Judge, I've got a few folks I need to challenge for cause. After I announced my challenges I felt right at home as the judge proceeded to do his best to rehabilitate each of the jurors who announced that they were biased against my client in one way or another.

Trying the case was pretty much the same as anywhere else - with the exception that, in Brazos County, police witnesses apparently are allowed to read from their notes when the testify. Oh, silly me. I guess I should have read the local rules in advance.

After testimony was completed we gave our closing arguments. I wasn't aware that it was customary in Brazos County for the prosecutor to take my demonstrative aid and throw it across the courtroom. I think that was Local Rule No. 2. Well, either that or not giving the jury a written or oral charge.

The judge told the jury to go back and decide whether my client was guilty or not. I asked if we could approach and I asked to see the charge. He handed me the verdict form. I asked him where the charge was and he told me I was looking at it. Luckily someone told me that this judge didn't give the jury a charge so I had already taken the time to draft a charge that the judge ended up sending back with the jury.

About 45 minutes later the jury informed the bailiff that they were deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial and sent us all off on our way.

I ended up at Rudy's BBQ on Jersey. Rudy's is a chain - but still serves some pretty damn good barbecue. I had my usual - brisket and sausage - with a side of creamed corn. The brisket was moist with a health smoke ring. Rudy's smokes their meat with a healthy dose of oak. The jalapeno sausage was cut lengthwise instead of sliced and had a bit of a kick to it. My only complaint was the slightly funky taste of the sweet tea. I know I should probably go back to getting unsweetened tea and using the pick packet of cancer-causing sweetener - but I digress.

All in all, it was some good stuff.

A little something left to be desired

I had lunch the other day with my brother, who's a private investigator. We decided to grab some barbecue and headed up to 19th Street to try the 'cue at Gatlin's - which we heard was supposed to be pretty good.

Gatlin's is in an old house near the confluence of 18th, 19th, 20th and Ella. It's a very simple set-up. There are a couple of tables inside and a larger seating area outside under the covered patio. You walk inside up to the counter and place your order. There's a pass through behind the counter where you can watch them pull the meat out of the smokers and slice it up.

I had my usual - brisket and sausage. The lady behind the counter (a very sweet and friendly lady, I might add) asked me if I wanted lean, moist or burnt ends for the my brisket. I told her I'd take all of it along with a side of baked beans.

The sausage was good, but didn't have enough smokiness for my tastes (keeping in mind that I prefer my barbecue dry as opposed to sauced). The brisket, on the other hand, was a disappointment. Most of the meat was moist and fell apart at the touch. The meat had a good smoke ring, however, and a black coating (smoked over pecan, I would guess), but it had very little taste.

A little spice rub would've been nice. Hell, even salt and pepper would've added some flavor to the meat. Good barbecue should have some smokiness to it with a little bit of a kick. The brisket and sausage at Gatlin's had very little of either.

Smoke stop in Wharton

In my comings and goings along the lower Texas coast I realized there was at least one prominent barbecue joint I had missed up until now. I have since rectified that error by stopping in Wharton at Hinze's.

Although there are signs from miles away advertising Hinze's, unless you're paying attention it's very easy to blow right on past the low slung building just outside Wharton, Texas. If you do, shame on you.

As is my custom I had a two meat plate -- brisket and sausage. I had pinto beans, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes on the side. The mashed potatoes were made with onions and bacon and were heavenly. The mac and cheese was a bowlful of velveeta-y goodness. The only thing missing was the banana pudding.

The brisket was firm and moist and had a very clean smoky flavor. I knew right away it had been smoked over oak. The sausage was cut on the diagonal and while it was good and smoky, the texture left a little something to be desired.

There was nothing special about the atmosphere - linoleum floors, old wooden tables, styrofoam plates and stuffed heads on the wall - but the food was worth the stop.

The best brisket in Texas?

Earlier this week I had to take another trip down US59 to Jackson County, Texas. As luck would have it, I was on the road at lunchtime.

Two of the biggest joints down that way are Mikeska's and Prasek's which I reviewed in an earlier post ("Barbecue showdown way down South"). Today's target was Mustang Creek in Louise. I've passed by the place countless times on the way down toward South Texas but I'd never stopped there.

Folks at the Jackson County Courthouse in Edna gave the place, housed in a converted gas station (the pumps are still out front), high marks. Now it was my turn.

The lady at the register suggested I choose the buffet since I was dining in. At only 30 cents more than the two-meat plate, how could I refuse?

As standard in my tests, I chose brisket and sausage without sauce. I want to taste the smoke and the meat and you just can't do that when you drown the meat with spicy red sauce. Real barbecue should be eaten dry - just like a good steak. As my sides I chose the pinto beans, potatoes and (of course) banana pudding.

The pinto beans were, well, pinto beans. The potatoes were damn good. It was a cross of hot potato salad and mashed potatoes seasoned with butter and onions. The meat was cut thick and was firm without being dry. The rub left a peppery crust on the meat. The sausage was also cut thicker than either Prasek's or Mikeska's dares. The banana pudding was heavenly.

According to the pit boss, Cecil Sanchez, Mustang Creek smokes their brisket over oak for "at least" six hours. The smoke ring is thick and the meat is tasty. While the atmosphere has nothing on its neighbors to the north, Mustang Creek's barbecue beats both Prasek's and Mikeska's.

Barbecue showdown way down South

Driving down to Live Oak County this week, a friend and I decided to see which of the two Czech purveyors of barbecue along US59 was better. We ate dinner at Prasek's in Hillje on the way down and lunch at Mikeska's in  El Campo on the way back.

I had the brisket and sausage plate at Prasek's with a double shot of baked beans for dinner. The meat came smothered in a spicy barbecue sauce (a definite no-no in my book). The brisket was sliced thin and didn't hold up to the sauce. The sausage, on the other hand, was a definite winner. It was firm and more than held its own against the sauce. There was also a huge bucket of sweet tea to wash down the smoked meat.

Prasek's has done a serious renovation job over the last year and the restaurant is huge. There's a meat counter (any kind of jerky or smoked meat you want is right there), a giant beer cooler with a selection that would rival a small Spec's and a giant salt water aquarium. It looked like a restaurant happened in the middle of a Buc-cee's.

For lunch I grabbed a brisket and sausage plate at Mikeska's with corn, mashed potatoes and banana pudding. No sauce. My belief is that properly smoked meat doesn't need any sauce as it should be firm but not dry with lots of smokiness. The brisket at Mikeska's was hands-down the better of the two. The burnt ends were heavenly. The sausage, on the other hand, left a bit to be desired. The banana pudding, however, was incredible. (A special thanks to the girl behind the counter who told me that banana pudding was a side.) Mikeska's feels like a big cafeteria - albeit with a wall full of stuffed animals.

My verdict? You can't go wrong at either place. If you go to Prasek's tell the man behind the counter either you don't want sauce or you want it in a cup. If you go to Mikeska's, just skip the sausage so you have plenty of room for the banana pudding.