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Our Easter Brisket Dinner

We celebrated Easter this year with a glorious brisket dinner. What better way is there to celebrate? Check out everything we had on our Easter menu and learn how to make the dinner of your dreams!

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Our Easter Brisket Dinner Menu

AKA Sunday Brisket Dinner, since Easter was over a week ago… *blush*

Because my parents were in town this weekend (and I had a couple new recipes I’ve been wanting to try!), and since we weren’t able to be with them last weekend on Easter, we decided to celebrate a week later with an Easter Sunday Dinner while they were here visiting.

The calendar of Christian religious holidays is nothing if not flexible. Right?

I had several traditional recipes for the Easter season that I’ve been wanting to try. After much deliberation (was it wrong to serve green peas with black eyed peas?) here’s how the menu turned out:

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes
Fajita BBQ Beef Brisket
Hot Cross Buns
Fried Black Eyed Peas
Smashed Potatoes with Peas & Caramelized Pearl Onions
Homemade Caramel & Brown Sugar Bacon Ice Cream

(Yes, I just said bacon. More on that later.)

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Fried Black Eyed Peas

When I saw the “Totally Unexpected” episode on the Food Network, and Alton Brown declared Fried Black Eyed Peas as “The Best Thing I ever Ate” I knew right then and there I had to throw on my good southern girl apron, get in the kitchen, and give these a try. It was the right thing to do. Just like Alton said, these were crunchy on the outside and POOF! Like little fluffy clouds when you bit into them. They were delicious with the mashed potatoes. If you give ’em a try, definitely serve with mashed potatoes. Heck, go ahead and serve them right on top of the mashed potatoes. The salty crunch of the peas with the buttery fluffiness of the potatoes was a perfect pairing. When we are in Atlanta for the Boston Terrier Nationals next month, we will be 15 minutes from Relish, the restaurant where AB had these fried black eyed peas, and we are definitely, definitely going – the first restaurant from the Food Network that I’ve ever been close enough to go to!

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Smashed Potatoes with Peas & Caramelized Pearl Onions

Remember the little green peas with pearl onions that came in a can? I used to love those. I used to eat all the pearl onions first and beg for more. Heck, I still love ’em. This grown up version with buttery, caramelized pearl onions and smashed potatoes is a tasty little side that can really dress up a plate. BTW, this was the only recipe for Easter dinner that I’d ever made before.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Fajita BBQ Beef Brisket

It alllll started with the brisket. I’d never made brisket before, but I’ve always wanted to- I was hooked ever since I saw the Pioneer Woman write about Braised Beef Brisket on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Ironically though, I didn’t end up using her recipe. I haven’t had that many briskets, but I’ve heard that it can be a tough cut of meat to turn out tender & juicy. And brisket is supposed to be best after you let it sit in the fridge for a day or two to let the flavors, you know, mix and mingle and party and stuff. But I never  understood the best way to reheat it – wouldn’t reheating it just make it, um, dryer and tougher? The recipe I used reheats the brisket over low and slow heat, just like you cook it, in the crock pot the day of serving, and it turned out to be the tenderest, juiciest, most flavorful brisket I’ve ever had. It just fell apart with a fork- no need for a knife. (“That’s not a knoife. This is a knoife!” Name that quote.)

Bacon Ice Cream

Homemade Caramel & Brown Sugar Bacon Ice Cream

If you’ve ever watched anything on the Food Network, for any length of time, you’ve probably seen at least one bacon dessert. After the last episode of “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and watching Chris Cosentino talk about pancetta ice cream- I knew it was time. I had to try it. I had, had, had to.

Bacon Ice Cream

I let the ice cream churn while we were eating lunch, and when it was ready, served it to my parents and let them try and guess what it was. Coffee was the first guess. Then he got a bite of the good stuff and the lightbulb went off- “Oh! Bacon!” my dad announced.

The Verdict

It may be a totally unexpected pairing, but this ice cream was really, really good. Everyone liked it (although I’m definitely blessed with non-picky eaters in the family! :)). The bacon was definitely a novelty- very interesting and I’m definitely glad I tried it once. I thought it was better the next day, after it had a chance to freeze overnight. If I made it again, I don’t know if I’d add the bacon bits again though, unless someone requested it. I would definitely, definitely, definitely (and will in the very near future) make this ice cream batter again without the bacon though. It was – I’m telling you – unbelievable. Amazing. So rich and creamy and the flavor – with the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon? I don’t even know how to describe it- maybe like a cinnamon bun. Just plain good stuff.

Easter Bunny Jar Centerpiece

While I was at the grocery store, shopping for all the ingredients, I picked up some leftover Easter candy that was marked down to like 25 cents. I got M&M speckled chocolate eggs, Starburst jelly beans (my favorite!), Snickers & Reese’s eggs, chocolate covered espresso beans (faint) and chocolate covered cookie dough (yum. yum yum yum yum yum.) And a Nestle Crunch bar shaped like an Easter bunny. There weren’t any Cadbury eggs left though. *sob* Not that I needed anything else.

Easter Bunny Jar Centerpiece

I don’t remember where I was, but a couple weeks before Easter I overheard someone talking about an Easter bunny jar- fill the bottom with green candy (M&Ms or jelly beans, in my case) nestle an Easter bunny in the “grass” and surround him with Easter eggs. With my score of leftover Easter candy, I had plenty to work with, and a great way to store & display it all. It made a fun centerpiece for the Easter table. The air-tight apothecary jar was leftover from my scraproom (I got them from Hobby Lobby several years ago) and it kept everything sealed and fresh. The jar was originally a little fuller, but we snacked on it all weekend. *blush* Publix sells Jelly Bellies in individual colors, so I got two different flavors of green and mixed them together for the “grass” – Margarita and Sour Candy Apple. It just seemed wrong to serve Margarita jelly beans for Easter. But I did it anyway. >:D

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

These recipes below are exactly what I did – right or wrong – with my notes at the end of each recipe. All of these recipes except the potatoes I had never made before, so in several cases there are things I would change / do differently next time.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Fajita BBQ Beef Brisket Recipe

1 6-8 lb whole beef brisket, with layer of fat on bottom
TexJoy Fajita seasoning
TexJoy BBQ seasoning
1 pkg McCormick’s Dry Fajita seasoning

Rub meat with TexJoy fajita seasoning & place in a ziploc bag overnight.
When ready to cook, sprinkle with TexJoy BBQ seasoning.

Cook, fat side up, @ 225 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 170 (a digital thermometer with an alarm is the easiest way to do this). Splash with a little apple juice (about 1/4 cup), then sprinkle with McCormick’s Dry Fajita seasoning and cover with foil and return to oven until it reaches 190. Turn off oven and let rest for 2 hours.

After it has rested, slice it against the grain. Arrange the slices in a crock pot (the kind where the crock is removable) and place the crock in the fridge, sealed with plastic wrap. Collect all the juices in a jar and store in fridge. Brisket is better after it sits in the fridge overnight, so make it a day or two ahead.

When the day comes to serve, pull the crock and the juice container out of the fridge. Remove the fat from the juice (keep it for later, say for a gravy) and reheat the juice in a saucepan on the stove. When the juice is warm, pour over the brisket and turn the crock pot on. Let it warm on Low for 3-4 hours.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

*Start Thursday or Friday night, cook the next day, and reheat on Sunday

Storing and reheating in the crock pot is definitely the way to go- genius! Makes serving day super easy! Just pull it out before church and by the time you get back, it’s ready! :) I couldn’t find the TexJoy seasonings (apparently they are only sold in Texas- bummer) so I substituted with a store-brand fajita seasoning from The Fresh Market and Paul Prudhomme BBQ seasoning. I really liked the BBQ seasoning, but I didn’t really care for the fajita seasoning. It sounded good (onion, garlic, paprika, red pepper, cumin, ginger, oregano, parsley and mustard), but enh. Next time I think I will go with a cajun/creole seasoning and a BBQ seasoning – two complementary seasonings with a little more spice to them! :)

This recipe would also probably do well in the crock pot, on the low setting. Although the dagburn 8-pound beast I got wouldn’t even remotely fit in my crockpot before it was sliced, and the one I have is huge- the crock won’t even fit in the dishwasher. An 8 lb brisket is enough to feed an army- we’ll be eating on ours until next Easter.

*

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

1 pkg low fat Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon fresly ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Grate nutmeg, then grind allspice and cloves in a coffee grinder to a fine powder. Mix all spices together with sugar. Roll out the crescent rolls dough into a sheet and press seams together. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar/spice mixture, fold the dough over in half, and roll out until flat again. Repeat this two more times until you’ve used all the sugar/spice mix. Separate dough into 8 equal sections and roll into balls.

Arrange buns in a cake pan and bake for 20 mins at 350. Top with Amanda’s Favorite Glaze in a cross shape.

Amanda’s Favorite Glaze Recipe

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons milk

Heat the butter and milk together til the butter melts. Whisk into the sugar.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

*You can prepare the dough and the glaze a day or two ahead to make serving day super simple- all you have to do is pull these out of the fridge and pop them in the oven.

I didn’t get a good picture of these because I wanted to serve the hot cross buns, well, hot and fresh out of the oven. Well, uh, you can’t really make a cross shape out of the glaze when the rolls are even remotely warm. Ya just can’t. So these probably weren’t even hot cross buns at all. They didn’t even have raisins in them. But to me, raisins are always optional. But I can tell ya one thing- these babies, whatever you call ’em, were goooooooooooood. Loved all the spices.

P.S. If I were going to make these again (and I absolutely will) and I weren’t trying to pass them off as hot cross buns (har har) and here’s what I’d do differently: I would roll out the crescent rolls dough into a sheet and press seams together, then sprinkle with most of the sugar/spice mixture, then roll back up, and cut into 8 slices, like cinnamon rolls. Then I would roll the uh, rolls in the remaining sugar & spices to coat all over. Bake for 20 mins @ 350, then top generously with lots and lots of Favorite Glaze. :D

*

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Fried Black Eyed Peas Recipe

1 can black eyed peas
1/3 onion, quartered
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 heaping teaspoon diced jalapenos
Old Bay seasoning
kosher salt
peanut oil for frying

Drain peas and roast @ 400 for 15 mins with onion, garlic, & jalapenos. Arrange peas in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in an 8×8 baking dish, remove vegetables, cover and cool in the fridge overnight.

Heat oil to 375°. Fry peas for 6-8 minutes, or until you can see that they’re starting to brown a bit. Remove and place in a bowl- sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning and salt, to taste. Let them cool a little before eating so they’ll be crunchy.

To Reheat: Place in cold oven, turn heat to 400 for 15 mins.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

*Drain the peas on Saturday, then fry them on Sunday.

Okay, ^^^ That’s how I did it. You can also start with dried peas and soak them overnight, then boil with the vegetables until just softened- if you want to go that route. 1 can of peas (about 14-15 oz?) makes 4 smallish to average sized side dish servings- there weren’t any leftovers for us. I honestly don’t think roasting the peas with the vegetables imparted them with any extra flavor. At all. I probably wouldn’t do it again. I did think they needed some kind of zip though, so next time I might sprinkle them with onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper after draining, then store them in the fridge. Then I wouldn’t have to bother with the vegetables when you don’t even use them in the finished product anyway. Definitely drain the peas & cool in a single layer overnight before frying though – or else there will be too much water in the peas and the oil will pop and foam too much.

*

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

Smashed Potatoes with Peas & Caramelized Onions Recipe

3 cups Ore Ida Steam & Mash Potatoes
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
5 oz frozen pearl onions, defrosted
Pinch sugar
5 oz frozen peas, defrosted
roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Place the potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, add 1/3 cup water, and microwave on high for 12 mins, stirring halfway through.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the pearl onions and sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden browned and caramelized, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the peas and continue cooking until the peas are hot (about 4-5 mins). Season with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are done, add 1/3 cup milk, 1 tbsp butter, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir lightly (I like them more “smashed” than totally mashed, but you can do however you prefer! :))

Dump the vegetables over the potatoes in the bowl, add the parsley and taste for salt and pepper.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

*Make on Sunday

Makes 4 servings. You could certainly use 1 lb potatoes instead of the Steam & Mash potatoes, but I love them because they taste good, are real potatoes and are super easy. I hate peeling potatoes. If you use raw potatoes (try new potatoes), just peel them, chop them into cubes and boil until fork tender, about 20-30 mins, then go from there.

*Adapted from this recipe by Tyler Florence.

*

Bacon Ice Cream

Homemade Caramel & Brown Sugar Bacon Ice Cream Recipe

5 strips bacon
2-3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 3/4 cup half-and-half
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To candy the bacon, preheat the oven to 400 F. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon, depending on length. Bake for 12-16 minutes. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once crisp and cool, chop into small bits. (Bacon bits can be stored in ziploc bag and chilled for a day or so.)

To make the ice cream custard, melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and half of the half-and-half. Pour the remaining half-and-half into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low to moderate heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Refrigerate the mixture overnight. Once thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.

Traditional Easter Brisket Dinner Menu with Recipes

*Make bacon & batter on Friday, let sit in fridge overnight. Churn on Saturday and freeze in an airtight container overnight. Serve on Sunday.

This recipe sounds kinda complicated, but it really isn’t, once you get into it. To make the ice cream ultra creamy, I added in 1 tbsp bacon grease with the butter- that was one of their secrets on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”. I loved it- I would definitely do that again – even if I didn’t do the actual bacon pieces. :)

You may now recoil in horror.

*Adapted from this recipe by David Lebovitz*

Thanks so much for looking- hope you had a wonderful weekend! :)

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32 Responses
  1. May

    Hi Amanda and thank you for the wonderful recipes. Im thinking of making the bacin ice cream but the only recipe I use for ice cream is the one you use with condensed. Milk and without the ice cream machine. Any ideas on how to convert this recipe to the one you use condensed milk, etc.?
    Thanks,
    May

  2. Ashley W.

    I saw that episode on Food Network about the bacon proscutto (sp??). I was wondering if it was good. I love bacon and ice cream, but I don’t know if I would love them together.

  3. mandy

    That all sounds wonderful – even the bacon ice cream:)! How are you staying a size 2 with all this cooking – I think I gained 5 lbs reading about it!:)

  4. carolanne carter

    Hi Amanda, Your dinner looked yummy but I think I’d have to pass on the bacon in the icecream. My favourite way with hot cross buns since I was a kid is to have a chunk of icecream in the middle. It’s bliss. I love it. And nobody answered your question. It was Crocodile Dundee who said that about a knife. Love your site and reading about what you get up to. I’m going to come to America one day but for this weekend it is the Cannington DirtnDust Triathlon at Julia Creek North West Queensland in Australia. Check it out on http://www.dirtndust.com. Cheers, Carolanne

  5. Evelyn Ball

    Amanda,
    The fajita brisket sounds de-lish-Ous! Thanks for the recipe! I also wanted to thank you for all the fab-U-lous fonts that you have provided.

  6. Trinad

    My oh My, ask and you shall receive. Thank you Amanda for all these yummy recipes. I can’t wait to give them all a try. Woot…Woot….
    so excited.
    Again Thank you again for sharing this recipes.

  7. Jenn

    You MUST try the fired black eyed peas on a salad. There’s a local restaurant here (KY) that serves their house salad with them on there. They’re awesome and add the perfect amount of crunch to your salad!

  8. Janie Pearson

    Amanda, I am feeling really inspired to try almost every one of these recipes. Thanks for sharing. Wish you lived in our neighborhood. I have a feeling you would make a really fun and interesting friend.

  9. Stefany

    Ok, you make me feel so lazy! What a WONDERFUL Easter meal, and the bunny creation was adorable. I’ll have to try the bacon ice cream- at the fair this year we tried the chocolate covered bacon- my hubby loved it!

    Next I’ll try the bacon explosion- I hear it’s a phenomenon online…

  10. Mary Cardini- Anderson

    Oh my! I love the photos that you took of your Sunday dinner. I loved the lighting that you used to take each photo. Everything looked delicious. Thanks so much fro sharing.

    Mary

  11. Janice

    Bacon ice cream.. I’m chicken.. I’ll have to taste it before I make it myself :). Everything else looks yummy and the centerpiece is waaay too cute!

  12. Mary Anne

    One more thing…I may be going to Relish this weekend. I will definitely try the Fried Black-Eyed Peas! Thanks for the suggestion.

  13. Mary Anne

    Amanda,
    I live in Atlanta and have a Boston! Where is the Boston Terrier Nationals going to be? I definitely want to go!! I’ve never heard of this. Please let me know!

  14. Cheryl Newton

    You are just too cool for words. I want to be you when I grow up, never mind the fact that I’m several years (a decade at least!) older than you. Someday, when I win the lottery (never mind the fact that I live in Utah, which has no lottery) I am going to fly you to my house to decorate it. I am one of those too-scared-to-make-a-decorating-mistake-so-I-do-nothing people. I know; the horror! Anyway, I love your blog! You rock.
    Cheryl

  15. Martha S.

    Crocodile Dundee!! I say that *all* the time!!

    And the menu looks fabulous. I happened to catch only the part of the show where AB talked about the fried black eyed peas. They sounded way tasty! You’ll have to tell us what they taste like at their “birth place.”

    And, um…yeah, where are the recipes? I would love to make a brisket like you described. And since your pork roast recipe is now on regular rotation at our house (and in several friends’ houses since I’ve shared your blog post), I’d love to add the brisket recipe!!

  16. Tamara

    Oh, I just recently made a brisket for my bunco group. I have a super easy recipe if you’re interested and it ALWAYS comes out so tender and juicy and even reheats tender!

  17. Rocio

    Oh Sweet♥Heart that dinner looks and sounds so Yummy!
    【ツ】Thanks for sharing…♥♥♥

  18. Lori Mc

    Amanda – we had the PW Brisket for St Patty’s day – was very good :) The bacon IceCream sounds very intersting & the fried BE peas – might have to try them!
    The quote – is it by Crocodile Dundee?
    Love your posts :) Oh yeah, the candy jar – too too cute.

  19. creole wisdom

    You ARE southern. My dad has always tried to get me to eat black eyed peas, but I hardly can choke down white beans- so I alway say “no.”

    That show on FN looks really interesting. I’m dying to see what Ina Garten’s “best thing I ever eat” was. I’m sure it is fabulous!

    Happy Easter :)

  20. PatriciaD

    What a great menu and I love, love, love the way you described everything. Makes me want to go cook the whole meal as is. So, like where are the recipes you used especially the brisket and the fried blackeyed peas?

    Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that I created the mini kit as part of our mega kit and used a couple of your fonts so wanted to send them to you but I need you ftp info. Thanks much, PatriciaD

  21. Cori

    Not a bacon fan but I am definitely going to lift this ice cream recipe! It sounds like an awesome base for so many alternatives… ginger, cardamon, hazelnuts, maybe even chili flakes and black pepper.

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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