Feed yourself something different on Super Bowl Sunday

Today, the topic that we’re engaging in with our fellow SB Nation football blogs is that of what the best Super Bowl meal is. Now, I understand that when we talk about food for consumption during the Super Bowl, or any football game, most of the conversation immediately shifts to things such as wings or pizza or tacos, and it would be easy to just recommend something along those lines.

However, in the words of the late John Pinette, I say “nay, nay!” Because an occasion such as the final football game of the year requires more than something that you can just grab on your way home from work on any given Wednesday night or something. If you’re going to do something for this, do it up big.

Like smoking a gigantic slab of meat.

Now, there are many different meats that you could smoke in preparation for Sunday’s game, but we’re going to focus on what might be the best one, and that’s brisket. This is the sort of thing that you can fire up during the late morning hours, and by the time kickoff comes around, your brisket will be ready to go. Plus, depending on how many your feeding, you’ll have leftovers, and leftover brisket is almost as good as regular brisket. Makes for a damn fine sandwich, too.

So, on your way home from work or whatever this evening, stop by your local supermarket (or your butcher, if you know a good one) and get your brisket. Preferably something in the 5 to 8 pound range. You’re also going to want to get the ingredients to make a solid dry rub, because that’s key. My recommendations?

• ¹⁄₄ cup salt
• ¹⁄₄ cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp white pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

Obviously, you can add whatever other spices you wish. That’s just one man’s recommendation.

When game day comes around, mix your rub together and smother your brisket with it. Cover the brisket and let it sit while you get your grill or smoker ready, but don’t let it sit out for more than an hour. You know, health reasons and such.

Set up your smoker according to the manufacturer’s recommendations and place your brisket on there for about six hours or so. Yeah, it’s going to smell awesome, and when the time is up, your patience will be rewarded with some outstanding brisket goodness. You can use the waiting time to make some side dishes, or to not do anything at all.

Like I said, anyone can do pizza or wings or tacos for the big game. But the best advice that I can give you is to “treat yourself” to something more significant for such an occasion.

What are you folks going to be eating on Sunday evening?