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Papa John's is Killen it with this new barbecue brisket pizza

Papa John's is Killen it with this new barbecue brisket pizza

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.

This week, I reached out for out for new — uh oh, worlds are colliding — Killen's BBQ Brisket Pizza from Papa John's ... with an asterisk. This mashup of food giants, Killen's Barbecue restaurant and Papa John's Pizza, is only available at Keith Sullins' "Houston Pizza Venture" group of 77 Papa John's Pizza locations in the Houston area.

Even though Killen's BBQ Brisket Pizza is not sold system-wide at Papa John's, Sullins still had to get national corporate approval for his Killen's collaboration.

"This was about an eight-month process," says Sullins. "It started when I was talking with Ronnie Killen at a Texans football game. Papa John's and Killen's Barbecue are both inside NRG Stadium. Jamey Rootes, the Texans' president, saw us talking and suggested that we should do something together. Ronnie visited our store down the street from his restaurant in Pearland, and that's how it started. Papa John's corporate gave us the go-ahead after checking everything out for food safety and other details."

Here's the blueprint: about 7 ounces of Killen's slow-smoked brisket, standard issue cheese, a ladle of pizza sauce, and a ladle of Killen's signature barbecue sauce on either thin crust or hand-tossed crust. It's a unique flavor, for sure.

While we don't have exact nutritional numbers, a typical Papa John's pizza with meat toppings has about 300 calories and 16 fat grams per slice. We do have the precise price: $17.99. Expensive, but you're getting real-deal, internationally celebrated Killen's brisket without having to wait in line outside his restaurant. Time is money.

CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler recently had the brisket pizza delivered. Here's his take:

Part of what makes brisket taste good is its rich, fatty texture, but shredding the brisket mostly ruins that. On the plus side, the smoke comes through strongly enough to cut through the dominant flavors of the cheese and sauce. The pickles and onions provide some welcome crunch and pops of acidity that help balance out the flavors, too.
As delivery pizza goes, it's solid. If I had to choose, I'd lean towards Cane Rosso's new Tuesday night special that uses brisket from Truth Barbeque — they cut it into cubes to preserve the texture — but that's only available in one place on one night of the week. Full credit to Ronnie Killen and Papa John's for figuring out how to make their pizza available for lunch and dinner citywide.

Bravo, Eric. Now here's my take:

Going in, I had one chief concern: would this be actual Killen's barbecue, or just some knockoff that Killen put his name on for a money grab? It's like that with Nathan's Famous hot dogs, one of my favorites, but only at a legit Nathan's hot dog stand. When you buy Nathan's hot dogs in the supermarket, the name's the same, but all similarity ends there.

Sullins assures me, the Killen's brisket on Papa John's pizzas is honest-to-goodness Killen's brisket. Well...it's brisket prepared according to Killen's obsessive specifications by J Bar B Foods in Waelder — as Sandler recently reported.

It's a quantity thing. Seventy-seven Papa John's restaurants demand lots and lots of brisket. As Killen told Sandler, after reaching confidentiality agreements, Killen gave the J Bar B staff his recipe and exact instructions how to prepare and cook the brisket. It was Killen who came up with the 50-50 sauce. He wanted to maintain some old school pizza flavor in his new barbecue pizza.

Continue reading on CultureMap to find out Hoffman's verdict on the pizza.

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The Texans will look to get back on track this Sunday against the Colts. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”

The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.

They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.

Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.

Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.

“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”

Ryans spoke about his confidence is getting Dell going.

What's working

The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.

Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.

What needs help

The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.

Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.

Stock up

RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.

Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.

“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”

Stock down

Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.

Key number

3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.

Next steps

The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.

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