Beef brisket with Asian cabbage slaw and twice baked potato

Tonight, I catered to the request of my 87 year old next door neighbor for a home cooked meal. You see, his wife is in the hospital after breaking her hip so I am keeping an eye on him while she is away in recovery. When I asked what his favorite meal is, he said "beef brisket with cabbage and a baked potato with all the fixin's." Not my typical meal, I went to Food Network to see how I could take a meal that seemed a little bland and "Emilyize" it.

For the beef brisket, I whipped up a rub with flavor as big as Texas that included:

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 bay leaf, crushed
4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
1 1/2 cups beef stock

Mix the first 8 ingredients together and rub on all sides of your brisket (which has been brought to room temperature). In a roasting pan, put your seasoned meat into the pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, uncovered. After an hour, add beef stock and enough water to bring the liquid level up to about 1 1/2 inches. Cover tightly and resume cooking for 2 more hours, lowering the temperature to 300 degrees.

(An hour or so later)

It's time to start on the cabbage. Now, this is not just your everyday boiled or sauteed cabbage. It is a cold cabbage slaw that has an Asian influence and is really amazing. To make it, you need:

1 lime, juiced

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Asian chili oil

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 cups finely shredded napa cabbage

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup water chestnuts

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, chili oil, mayonnaise and soy sauce in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, peppers, water chestnuts and scallions and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

(A little later still)

The meat is nearly done so it is time to make the potatoes. Thoroughly wash the potatoes, wrap in a wet paper towel and pop in the microwave for 12-15 minutes to cook initially. In the meantime, mix together in a small bowl a few spoonfulls of:

Greek plain yogurt
Sour cream

Add in some chopped chives and bacon and mix. Season with oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Once the potatoes are done cooking, cut the tops off lengthwise and peel the skin off the top portion. Mash the removed, de-skinned tops in a bowl and add in the creamy mixture you just created. Mix thoroughly and spoon back into the bottom potato "bowls". Pop the potatoes into the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. At this point, go ahead and remove the beef brisket from the oven and let the meat rest prior to cutting it.

After resting, cut the meat thinly. Plate the food and enjoy!