Skip to main content

Corned Beef and Cabbage


Let’s set the scene. It is March 11th. I have sourced a lovely piece of round and have decided to brine it- to corn it, for St. Patrick’s Day.  In order to corn beef, you need a few special ingredients. Off to Amazon, I cry. This is my rallying cry for almost everything in my life. (Specialty food ingredients! Toiletries! Pet supplies! Kitchen gadgets! - To Amazon, I cheer, and, with reckless abandon, purchase).

Research informed me that I need pink salt and pickling spice for my brine. So I purchased the pickling spice, knowing full well that I will doctor it with extra spices I have lying around (such as coriander, cumin, fennel, juniper, caraway, mustard seeds, bay leaves and black mustard seeds). Because some is good but more is better. I also add pink salt to my cart- pink salt being sodium nitrate (also called Prague Powder); not that fancy pink Himalayan salt.

Sodium nitrate is what will keep corned beef nice and red rather than all tan and sad after being simmered for 3 hours. It also inhibits the growth of some scary bacteria that can kill you, which I consider a plus. You can certainly purchase pre-brined corned beef, but I take a certain pride in brining it myself. Plus you can tweak your pickling spice to your taste and have a corned beef that is all your own.

The brining process take about 7 to 10 days, so it does require little planning ahead. You must pair the corned beef with a traditional New England boiled dinner to get the full experience. It is a meal I look forward to every year; I hope you’ll love it too. Enjoy!


Corned Beef Brine Recipe:
From Meathead Goldwyn

Ingredients:
4 lb beef brisket, round, or flank, 1.5 inches thick, trimmed of fat
1 gallon of water
8 oz of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of pink curing salt
1 cup of brown sugar
5 tablespoons of pickling spice
4 to 5 smashed garlic cloves

Method:
Mix the water, kosher salt, pink curing salt, brown sugar, pickling spices and garlic in a pot. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar and salt and turn off the heat. Bring the water to room temperature and refrigerate. Once cold, pour the water mixture into a very large bag that will accommodate the volume of liquid and meat. Add the meat and take out the air and seal the bag. Put the bag into a large container. Leave to brine in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. 

Traditional New England Boiled Dinner

Ingredients:
Brined beef brisket, around 2 lbs
2 tbsp spoons pickling spice
1 head of cabbage, cut into 8 pieces with root attached
4 carrots, cut into large pieces
1 rutabaga, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 lbs of boiling potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks ( I used red)


Method:
Rinse your brisket very well. Place into a large pot with picking spice and plenty of water to cover the meat. Put a lid on the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for 3 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat is 190 degrees F and fork tender.

Put the potatoes, rutabaga, carrots and cabbage into a large pot with plenty of water. Salt the water and bring it to a low boil. Cook until the vegetables are tender, drain from the water, and add knobs of butter. Season with salt and pepper.


Drain the meat from the water and allow to rest. Slice the meat against the grain. If you slice the beef with the grain, it’s going to be long, stringy tough strands of muscle fibers. Go against the grain and that meat will melt in your mouth.  Make a plate of vegetables and meat. Serve with butter, vinegar, and whole grain mustard. Enjoy!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cookies

Like many of you, I made an entire Thanksgiving Day feast for only my husband and I. As such, I have an inordinate amount of leftovers. Expect my blog to largely star ways to dress up leftovers, because I have freezer meals of Thanksgiving day to last a lifetime. In this recipe, I was looking for a way to use up cranberry sauce and leftover walnuts from my apple crisp. Cranberry sauce drop cookies seemed the perfect thing to make; enjoy it with a cup of hot cocoa. I plan on gifting some to my parents; a way to break bread near the holiday without breaking protocols. Enjoy!  Ingredients: 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 sticks of butter, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 cup cranberry sauce 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup chopped nuts Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside a rimmed baking tray. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. With ...

Samosas with Yogurt Sauce

I love exploring many kinds of cuisine in my kitchen because I can control the spice level, and in the case of this recipe, the use of cilantro. Cilantro lovers out there- sub it info the parsley here. I have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, which limits my ability to enjoy some dishes in restaurants, but is easily rectified in my own kitchen. I hope you enjoy! Ingredients:  3 russet potatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped 2 teaspoons curry powder 5 ounces peas Six 8 inch flour tortillas 4 ounces Greek yogurt Oil, salt, pepper, vinegar 4 tablespoons butter Method: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet. Scrub potatoes and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces. Place in a large saucepan with a generous pinch of salt and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil over high; uncover and cook until tenderDrain potatoes and transfer to a bowl.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in reserved saucepan over medium. Add chopped garl...

Peek-a-boo Squares

My grandma, Mimi, taught me this recipe. I used to make this with her and my mother as a child. It is my very favorite dessert. It is incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat. My favorite part of making this as a child was dusting every bar generously with snowy white powdered sugar.  My favorite version of this dessert uses canned blueberry pie filling; I vastly prefer Libby brand over the store brand. You can make blueberry pie filling from scratch with sugar, cornstarch, bleberries, etc. but using the canned stuff is easy in a pinch and is much for nostalgic for me. Plus, I don’t notice a vast improvement over my homemade blueberry pie filling and the Libby brand; it just takes me longer to put this dessert together.  I have been known to whip up a pan of these Friday night and have them disappear by Saturday afternoon. Be warned, these things are addictive! Ingredients: 3 cups of all-purpose flour 2 cups of granulated sugar 4 eggs 2 ...