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one. If it doesn’t, use a part of the grill with indirect heat. (If it is a charcoal grill, for example, we are talking about the part of the grill with no charcoal beneath it. For a propane grill, just turn off one of the burners.) Put the potatoes on the grill for one hour or, depending on what you’re cooking, a bit earlier. Just let them cook alongside your meat. You can wrap them in foil, which protects them from 5G, but if you’re using the top rack you don’t need to use foil. After one hour, they should be cooked all the way through. When you pull them from the grill, be sure to make a joke that they are “hot potatoes” just to see how good your friends and family are at faking a laugh. (Now you know.) Next, cut the potatoes in half and scoop out their insides with a spoon, moving them (that is, the insides) into a big bowl. Season the bowl of potatoes with any or all of your favorite seasonings (salt, pepper, Tony’s, herbs, etc.). Add some sour cream for sour creaminess, and mix it all up until you get a pleasing mashed potato-type consistency. Now add some shredded cheese and chopped green onions. If you are feeling wild, fry up some really crispy bacon and break that into the potatoes as well. Mix, mix, and mix some more. Now for the fun part. Take the potato mix and scoop it back into the potato skins you first got them from. By now, the potato is hoping desperately that you make up your mind, but things are about to get a lot worse for the spud, because after you top each reconstituted potato with yet more shredded cheese, it’s back onto the grill they go. Let them cook for 15 minutes, or long enough for everything to melt nicely. Plate alongside your grilled meat, and serve.

How to Cook Brisket ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT GET THE MEAT Figure out how big a brisket you’ll need for your crowd and your hunger level. Since brisket loses a lot of water and fat in the slow-smoke process, you’ll need to estimate one pound of raw brisket per person , which will yield a half-pound of juicy smoked goodness on the plate. (When in doubt, go a little heavier, as barbecue leftovers rarely last long.) Ask your Rouses Markets butcher to trim the fat to ¼-inch thickness. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT START THE FIRE Stoke your fire and bring the smoker’s temperature to 250°F (the optimal temperature for indirect heat). Add hickory wood chunks during the smoking time for additional flavor. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT WORK THE RUB Make a dry rub using equal parts kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (or to simplify things, use Rouses Markets Chicory & Garlic All Purpose Rub.) Starting with the fat side down, coat the brisket with yellow mustard. Get the surface just wet enough for the dry rub to stick. Pour the rub directly on the brisket, gently and evenly pressing the rub into the meat as you go. Repeat the mustard/ rub routine on the brisket’s fatty side. Allow the brisket to rest at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes before smoking. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT LOAD THE SMOKER AND WAIT Place the brisket in your smoker fat side up. Leave undisturbed for the first four hours of the cook time, or until the thickest part of the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. By this point your brisket should have a deep mahogany hue and a consistently crunchy-looking outer later (called the bark). ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT WRAP FOR MOISTURE, WAIT AGAIN Now it’s time to wrap the brisket in foil for tenderness’s sake (see the sidebar on The Texas Crutch). Return the foil-wrapped brisket to the smoker and let it cook until the meat’s internal temperature approaches 185°F, about five hours. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT REST, THEN SLICE Pull the brisket from the pit and allow it to rest in the foil for at least another 30 minutes, or up to an hour. This process allows the precious juices to redistribute and settle back into all parts of your delicious brisket. Slice brisket against the grain when serving. Slice the flat (fatty part) and point (lean part) separately so you have a combination of deep-smoked meaty textures.

Rouse In-House Most meats are going to do best after hours of absorbing any number of rubs and marinades you can make at home or buy at Rouses Markets. If you are reading this from work and need to cook dinner in an hour, however, they might not be much help to you.

Enter the Rouses Butcher Shop, here to save the day. Rouses sells pre-marinated meats of every variety and with every seasoning. Check out the beef kabobs in standard and mesquite flavors, or try the Rouses Bayou Boys Burger, loaded with jalapeños, cheddar cheese and bacon — or try the Green Onion and Bacon Burger. Pork is seasoned, wrapped and ready to go, not only as kabobs, but also as mesquite country style ribs and steaks, and Cajun-seasoned steaks and ribs. Chicken comes as kabobs and mesquite kabobs, but also as buffalo chicken wings, mesquite chicken drumettes and every part imaginable, seasoned and shrink-wrapped: wings, boneless breasts, boneless butterflied chicken breasts, drumsticks, thighs and drumettes. For something a little different, Rouses Butchers make stuffed mushrooms with Cajun sausage, green onion sausage and Italian sausage, as well as jalapeño sausage green onion poppers. (Indeed, if poppers are your thing, don’t miss the cheddar cheese poppers and boudin poppers.) Lastly, be sure to check out the new Rouses Bayou Bombs, which are cream cheese stuffed jalapeños encased in fresh, in-house Rouses Cajun Sausage, then wrapped in bacon — grill ready and delicious.

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