When I was working my way through my 100 Favorite Dishes I received many emails with list after list of recommendations. Some of them were good, and some were terrible, but it was definitely fun to explore Dallas through my readers' eyes.
I didn't get through all of the recommendations, so when I drove past Mike Anderson's BBQ the other day on the way to a taco restaurant, a brisket-stuffed jalepeño vision flashed before my eyes. "Screw tacos," I thought, and made a hard right off of Harry Hines and into the parking lot. It was only supposed to be a minor diversion.
The problem is when you're on your way to a taco joint you're usually hungry. And when you stop into a barbecue joint and you're hungry a single little itty bitty wad of meat, cheese and pepper doesn't quite cut it. So I ordered the Sloppy Mike in addition to the stuffed jalepeño even though I was on my way to a taco restaurant.
I figured I'd just take a few bites.
I didn't.
The Sloppy Mike isn't the Manwich my mother used to make. The kitchen chops smoked brisket down to strings before saucing it up with a sweet barbecue sauce. The sandwich is finished with shredded cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, jalapeño slices and hot sauce, and the meat is heaped with enthusiasm. I don't know what to say -- it's a real ass-kicker.
Minutes later my plate was nearly clean. A few hunks of sauce-soaked brisket and a slice of jalepeño were all that remained as a reminder of what I'd just done. I felt guilty.
As for the pepper, it's not my style. Bacon is pretty hard to work with when you nuzzle it up with fresh vegetables and has a way of getting soft and rubbery. The blue cheese and brisket filling however was pretty great. If they breaded and deep fried this puppy and ditched the pork they'd have a real winner.
I'll get to those tacos tomorrow.
