You're singing my tune.

The last several restaurant French dips were disappointments. Spent half the time picking the fat off thick slices of god-knows-what cut of beef too thick to chew and an au jus that wouldn't pass for watered-down beef broth.

Your account of trying to get a plain "meat and bun" at a fast food place was dead on. Played that scene out a thousand times. I'll decide what to put on my burger, and how much, too, thank-you very much. But the look of utter confusion when the cog in the wheel is asked to do something out of the ordinary can be entertaining.

Thank heaven there is a great Mom & Pop BBQ less than 2 miles away. They serve it dry style (sauce on the side) which is not my preferred way of doing it, but the brisket is fall apart in your mouth, and the sauce is thick and brings a sweat to your forehead without burning your mouth. Sometimes, I'll get a pound of beef and a quart of sauce (like any self-respecting BBQ place, they'll sell by the pound) mix 'em up in the crock pot and let it slowly, slowly, over a couple of hours, reach maturity. I'll spoon that out on a toasted roll with a nice chewy crust, put it on a plate with chunky mashed potato and a nice crunchy pickle. Ahhhhhh.........

I'll save my quest for a passable shredded beef chimmichanga for another post.