When it comes to jobs around the house we all have our own special skills.
It makes for a more harmonious home if everyone knows what they’re responsible for. As it happens, our tasks are now split in quite a traditional way. Ed does proper ‘man jobs’ like re-building chimneys, making furniture, chopping logs, all the manly Grr type stuff.
My task list does sound like it belongs to a 1950’s housewife: washing, cleaning, ironing, making sure George gets to all his various classes, clubs and appointments in the appropriate clothes and with the correct things in his bag. The only downside to my career change was that I lost my fabulous cleaning and ironing lady. Don’t worry though, this doesn’t mean I’m tied to the kitchen sink. I’ve got a dishwasher. Plus I’m also not averse to getting down and dirty. I’ve built a few drystone walls over the years, I’ll have you know.
There are several areas of crossover; We both do a bit of decorating when pushed, although Ed has recently passed the painting baton over to me as he really can’t stand it. He happily provides me with a pile of tools and equipment then leaves me to it. The unspoken deal being that he’s not allowed to criticise my brush work. Lawn mowing and bin emptying fall into both camps – whoever has the lowest threshold and can’t bear it any longer is the one that gets the job done.
We are starting to build a task list for George, but I’ll be honest it’s 3 steps forward 2 steps back. Ed and I watched out of the window yesterday as George’s leaf clearing turned into a circus act of balancing the rake on his chin and ended in him adding leaves individually to the compost bucket by hand. They were falling off the tree behind him quicker than he was picking them up. At least, we agreed, he was outside in the fresh air trying to help.
In the kitchen we also have our separate roles: I always make the pancakes, fry the eggs, bake the cakes, I mostly enjoy things calm and measured.
Ed is better at the fire and knives stuff, savoury, no-recipe food that gets me in a lather. But his real specialist subject is flavour. He always seems to know just the right things that will make something taste delicious.
He made a rub for the brisket this weekend that was most splendidly tasty.
Our plan was to start the brisket in the oven, roasting it slowly over a tray of water and vegetables, then to smoke it over hickory chips in the kettle barbecue for an hour. But when we tasted the beef as it came out of the oven, Ed’s special blend, with smoked paprika, plus the long, slow cook had rendered it pretty much smokey and perfect already.
So we put it in a bun and ate it.
With tangy barbecue sauce (his job) and crunchy coleslaw (my job).
Ed’s Brisket Dry Rub (approximate quantities)
½ tsp Garlic Granules
1 tsp Onion Granules
1 tsp Table Salt
½ tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Muscovado Sugar
½ tsp Dried Rosemary and ½ tsp Dried Thyme – ground with a mortar and pestle
Coat the meat in the dry rub and massage in.
Sit it in the fridge for 4 or more hours.
Put the meat on a rack over a kettle of hot water and some chopped celery, carrots and onion.
Cover with foil and cook on a low heat for several hours.
Our piece cooked for around 4 hours at 160°C but it depends on your cut of meat.
Ed’s Barbecue Sauce (rough amounts…until it tastes just right)
3 tbsp Ketchup
½ tsp Garlic Granules
2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp Muscovado Sugar
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
Salt & Pepper
Boil it all in a pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
fudgingood
September 15, 2014
YUM!
Sally
September 16, 2014
I loved this post. It really made me think about the tasks we divide up at home. I could just picture you peeping out of the window at George and seeing his leaf juggling antics. I’ve found a good source of brisket now so this recipe is firmly bookmarked.
downmyfront
September 16, 2014
Wow! Going to try both of these recipes !
Anne MC
September 17, 2014
dilemma dilemma. I have just bought some pork belly which I wanted to turn into rillettes following your recipe and now you come up with this beef recipe. Which will I do first? Laughed at your post on split tasks in the house and your philosophy on rubbish bin and lawn mowing; it is the same here. My husband can do the dishwasher as long as I load it all up, put the dishwasher tablet and tell him “Please remember to press the button before you go to bed”. He sometimes forgets. For my eldest son, so far I have found 1 job he can do very well: hoovering the car. So I have no qualm now about the boys eating in the car since He can clean it! Anne
thesavoryconfection
September 18, 2014
I’ve been dying to make homemade barbecue sauce but I was always put off by the complexity of it. Your recipe is a refreshingly easy take on the classic sauce. I will most definitely give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
twiechman
September 20, 2014
Awesome post. I love Brisket. I’ve made a few similar recipes to this, and actually my go to for a dry rub is almost exactly like yours except I add just a pinch of cocoa and coffee grounds (and by pinch I mean a really small amount) to the rub!
JamTokyo
September 20, 2014
Amazing!
thefolia
September 22, 2014
Sounds like you have quite the team in your nest…we still are tweaking our specialty chores in our nest. Happy Nesting!
mrsbigsi
October 1, 2014
Just out of interest Claire what size cut of meat roughly did you use? There are only the two of us but we do like leftovers 🙂
thingswemake.co.uk
October 1, 2014
Hmm…not sure what weight it was. You can see the size in that tin above. It was maybe about 3lb, it cost £15 if that helps!
mrsbigsi
October 2, 2014
ahh perfect…..I’ve just been and bought it and it was £12.00 so near enough! 🙂
thingswemake.co.uk
October 2, 2014
I must admit…this is not a majorly tried and tested recipe! Just go with what feels right.
kptncook
August 15, 2015
OMG it is only breakfast time out here, but when I see this I totally feel like having it now. Just like right now! Such a perfect combo! Thanks for sharing!