I was lucky enough to talk to Super Bowl XII Co-MVP, NFL Hall of Famer and restaurateur Randy White as part of his press tour for Tide* this past Monday, and instead of trying to capture how gracious and affable Mr. White was in words, I’m just going to post our interview as a podcast.
“The Manster” has been around football for a long time, so I tried to stay away from questions I’m sure he’s heard about a million times before (although my warm-up was asking about how he managed to stay healthy for 14 season), and kept the interview pretty light. (Despite my friend Jason’s urging, I didn’t ask about the time Russ Grimm went at him ten plays in a row during the 1982 NFC Championship game.) He was happy to talk about his martial arts training and how it helped his game, which defensive players he respects playing now– no surprise, he’s a James Harrison fan — and we had good discussion about the league over-protecting the quarterback, and about which QB he thinks it would be easier for him to to take down, Aaron Rodgers or Ben Roethlisberger.
We also talked a lot about grilling and his restaurant, because I had to know how a kid who grew up in Pittsburgh became such an expert on brisket. (The only time I can ever recall seeing brisket served in the ‘Burgh was around Passover, never at a barbecue.) White lit up when discussing the red wine reduction he puts on his BBQ brisket, and since I’m also a fan of grilling with wine, I’m excited to try his “messiest sandwich” recipe. He was also nice enough to recommend a couple of places for football fans heading to the Dallas-Arlington-Ft.Worth area to check out while in town.
So thanks to Mr. White for his time and his Messiest Sandwich recipe. They’ll be sampling his sandwich tomorrow at the Frisco location of Randy White’s Hall of Fame BBQ from 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm, with Mr. White scheduled to appear between 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm as a part of the Tide with Acti-Lift Café*.
Randy “The Manster” White, 1/31/11: 13 minutes
Tailgate Tested Messiest AND Tastiest Sandwich
Ingredients:
120 cut 10-12 lb brisket
Texas Toast
BBQ sauce
Salt
PepperPreparation:
For some good ole Texas BBQ , Dallas style, run down to the grocery store and get you a choice brisket: 120 cut, average 11 to 12 pounds. Cover the brisket in 2 ounces of salt and 2 ounces of pepper mixed together. Set in a 2 inch foil pan, fat side up, do not cover.
Set your oven on 220 degrees for 8 to 10 hours. If you have a smoker, set it at 180 degrees for 14 to 16 hours. When tender, pull out and slice the brisket across the grain, trimming offthe layer of fat. Take some Texas toast, toast it, then pour on your favorite BBQ sauce (use Randy Whites’ signature sauce if you’re in Dallas) and you have yourself one major BBQ sandwich!
To kick the messy-factor up a notch—braise the brisket in a red wine reduction sauce:
Preparation:
Pour red wine into the pan with all the good bits from the meat—add a bit of grapeseed oil or butter if needed. Reduce the wine until it develops a thick/saucey composition, then strain. Drizzle over the cut brisket before adding BBQ sauce.
If you’re a big Cowboys fan and want to hear more about his thoughts on the team now, I recommend reading White’s interview the team at SB Nation Dallas.
*Even with a small-ish site like mine, I am always surprised how often marketers reach out to me for coverage of their products or events. So my general rule of thumb is, if I already use the product then I don’t mind including their brand name on my site. Since I regularly buy Tide Free and usually have a Tide Wipe in my purse because I’m constantly spilling on myself, I feel confident about their products.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew Bucholtz and ThreeRiversBurghBlog, sarah sprague. sarah sprague said: Had a chance to interview SB MVP and HOF'er Randy White, be sure to listen to the podcast: http://bit.ly/dN7THP […]