You can’t expect much from airport brisket, but I figured why not try it and see. The bread is pretty on par for white bread, although the menu describes it as being oven toasted. I guess that’s their lingo for it being baked into bread at some point. Beans were the only standard BBQ side they offered, and they were really smokey, as if someone poured the bottle of Bullseye into them. Better than some other more legit bbq joints I’d tried in the past week, but nothing special. The potato salad is on par with HEB (that’s the local grocery for those non-San Antonians reading this). The red onion slice was cut fresh at least three days before I ordered. But you want to know about airport brisket right?

It has the charred edges, it has the smoke ring, and it’s tender. But it comes with so much sauce poured on it that you can’t taste any of those elements. You can only taste the sauce. It’s rich and smokey, with hints of sweet, reminds me of Bullseye Hickory BBQ Sauce. I’d almost bet that it is, but again I don’t expect much at the airport, Wolfgang Puck Express this is not.

I also ordered a pint of the only Shiner I’d have my entire trip, Shiner Bock. Shiner Bock, it won’t get you drunk, it shouldn’t be memorable, but it tastes like beer. Either the lines were dirty, or the glass was (or both) but this was hands down the worst Shiner I’ve had, to the point that I’d question buying another Shiner product ever again.

Ignore that they are charging $5.50 for a pint. Ignore that they aren’t a “microbrewery” since they only resell what they consider to be microbrews (as long as you ignore the macrobrewery that produces them). Even LAX has a microbrewery that’s supported by an actual microbrewery (Karl Strauss Microbrewery). Ignore that they have three employees to every customer yet still can’t seem to do more than talk to each other while ignoring guests.

Ignore all that, and walk on past this place as you exit Terminal A in San Antonio.

It seems to be a fairly large chain, so I didn’t go in expecting much more than a late dinner ‘snack’ after that larger lunch at another bbq joint earlier in the day. After the brisket experience earlier, I made sure to give theirs a good look before ordering. It was like Augie’s; no char, loads of unrendered fat, so I passed it up. Not wanting to risk another bad brisket experience, I had a few ribs and a link for meats, plus cole slaw and green beans for sides.

The slaw is hands down best I’ve had at a bbq joint. It’s not a creamy slaw which already won me over. If you prefer a bright light slaw, strong on vinegar, crisp on cabbage, then this is your slaw. The green beans have character, and shocked me how good they were. The link, not bad, I could see people claiming it’s a little greasy, but I doubt their regulars have a problem with it. The ribs are on par with what expect from Texas. Texas mastered beef and doesn’t quite understand hog like Tennessee, but Bill Miller’s has an okay pork rib. On a prior trip I did try their beans, not a fan. Also, their sauce is missing smoke and possibly brown sugar, so the tomato base is really forward. Not bad, but not really bbq sauce either. Their sauce would be best on fries.

Next time I would probably buy a double portion of slaw, a side of green beans, a link, and perhaps give a look at their poultry offerings (and maybe give their brisket a try), and skip the sauce. I shouldn’t walk away from a bbq place praising their slaw and green beans over their meat, but their sides honestly put their meat to shame.

Where do I begin with Augie’s? I think with Texas bbq it really comes down to brisket, and Augie’s brisket, while moist, might as well have been roast beef. No smoke ring, no char, huge chunks of unrendered fat, but moist and tender. It could be easily replicated at your home kitchen with a crockpot.

Now their saving graces are their spicy link and their pulled pork. Both were right on target. Had I a little more room I’d tried their ribs, but I’ve not had success with Texas and ribs, so I’d go in with low expectations.

The sides: Their creamed corn was okay (could use jalapenos), their baked beans were possibly from a can marked “Bush’s Honey Baked Beans”, and their mac ‘n cheese is so bland that even your children will pass on it.

Pros: pulled pork, spicy link, and the price for 2 meats 2 sides combo is a pretty good bbq deal.

Cons: sauce is sweet as candy, brisket should get them kicked out of Texas, sides are bland. They should remove “smoke” from their name.

They claim to be the worst bbq in Texas, but I’ve found nothing that comes close to that title since a really horrible experience at Mark Dean’s BBQ in Saginaw, TX. We rolled in to Rudy’s just before 5:30 on a Tuesday to no lines and fast and friendly service. When we left, just after 6:00, the line was out to the gas pumps.

Their Brisket was one of the better I’ve had, nice smoke ring, nice char on the edges, and moist as you’re going to find Brisket anywhere. The turkey was good but nothing I’ve not already done in my own kitchen. The links were nothing special, and my first excuse to try their signature ‘sause’. Their ‘sause’ was on par with other sauces I’ve had in Texas with just the right amount of heat. The beans might as well have been straight from a can. And their creamed corn, as you’ve read in other reviews is damn good. I’ve only once had better creamed corn, but was rocking jalapenos.

I’d say they are not the best I’ve had in Texas, but nowhere near the worst, and I’d happily be one of their regulars if I lived anywhere near San Antonio.

In summary, I’d say good inexpensive bbq, raises no bars, but not disappointed.

Sometimes you get a batch where the casings are stubborn, and end up building up pressure instead of browning like you’d normally expect. The juices build instead of get released. Then the pressure gets to be too much and when it finally explodes into the grill causing a huge flame as you can see above. I’m just glad I had my camera ready for it. Every brat in that pack did this.

Yankee Clipper makes a decent canned sardine so I figured their canned anchovies can’t be too bad. I had no idea what “rolled fillets” meant as I’ve never seen it on canned fish before. Canned seafood always seems to have a country of origin printed somewhere on the packaging or the can. They also tell you whether they were wild or farm raised, and usually mention if color has been added of if the fish were ever frozen. I guess they’ve got a few more rules than everyone else to have to always list these sorts of things.

These anchovies came from Morocco and are wild caught. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the “rolled” part or even looked at the ingredients, because when I opened the can I was a little surprised by what I saw.

I know you see those green dots. I did too. Those are capers, and they are only referenced in the fine print. I’ve never had anchovies rolled in capers, nor seen them. So I guess I should at least smell them first. They didn’t smell like any anchovy I’ve had before, and there’s no fishy smell. Hmm. So I picked one up and took a bite. They don’t taste like any anchovies I’ve ever had. Much mellower in flavor, but I can tell the salt level is much higher than other brands. Still it’s pretty good. I would buy these again, and even recommend them to people who like fish, but think anchovies are disgusting.

I found another can of fish on my journey yesterday, but those are canned sardines from Pakistan. And they are packed in a can that looks like a small tomato paste can. I may have to try those tomorrow. Anyway, get more fish in your diet, it’s supposedly good for you. That is, until a study comes along after this Gulf thing and shows us we should stop eating fish completely.

We have a new vending machine company in the building, who just installed machines last night. Well I look at it today for the first time to check out the selection and spot a recalled item. Tuesday, the FDA recalled the above brand/style of chips for possible salmonella contamination. So, I immediately contacted the manager who is contacting the vendor about it. Considering just how recent the recall is, I doubt the vendor has really learned about it, but he’s about to tonight. I do like this company’s chips, as do a few friends, but there’s no way I’m trying them again until long after I know they’ve been off recall.

UPDATE: The vending machine company immediately pulled these chips from the machine because I notified the manager. I guess he’s now working on finding what other machines he put the chips in to pull them from all his machines.

It just felt like the right time of year to break out an old favorite. Cabbage and sausage stew. It slow cooked for over four hours, making everything nice and tender and delicious. It hit the spot. Now if I can  remember to make it again when the weather is actually cool enough to really enjoy it.

Onions, grilled with garlic.

Peppers, grilled.

Mmm.

I had trouble coming up with a name for this, so my friend Noah named it after seeing the photo above. So the one thing I didn’t like about those big guys’ version of this is how they prepare their eggs. So I made it myself, and had it my way. Yes, that pepper, garlic, and paprika make a difference.

To cover all ingredients, it’s a toasted English muffin (I didn’t use Thomas this time), sausage patties (I used brown ‘n serve style that were small, so I used two), one fried egg over hard (no oil, just a brand new non-stick pan) with fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and a slice of American cheese to finish it off. It worked out pretty well, and I’d been craving one of these from the big guys but figured I’d just make it myself. Glad I did. It’s always better that way, and I know what went into this one.