We discovered a gem of a restaurant on a dusty highway called Hashknife on the Chisholm Trailin Peadenville (population 6, seriously).  It’s located  at the junction of Highways 281 N. and 254.  Big Jim McLennan and his wife Lesa are the owners of this restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

“We have a little menu and what we do, we try to do well,” Big Jim told us as we were hunched over paper plates filled with brisket, sausage, pork ribs, rib eye steaks, chicken fried steak and “big ole burgers.”

On his menu, Big Jim has found a happy balance of barbecue, country café and steakhouse dishes.   One of the best dishes at Hashknife is actually poultry. Big Jim puts his barbecue smoker to good use when he makes a delicious smoked chicken salad sandwich on toasted white bread.