Corned Beef (and cabbage?)

[richw]

Hi All,

I bought one of those supermaket slabs of corned beef to simmer up this weekend. It says on the package that one should try to retain all juices from the bag and place them in the water with the corned beef. I was wondering...do any you add anything else to your water? Maybe mirepoix?

Curious,

Rich

[Jaymes]

I was wondering...do any you add anything else to your water?  Maybe mirepoix? 

I do.

I actually make this quite a lot.

Along with the corned beef, I add a few whole stalks celery, some whole carrots, a couple onions, halved, a fresh bay leaf, a sprig or two of rosemary and thyme.

Skim water frequently.

Also, we like potatoes with our corned beef and cabbage.

Anyway, after the corned beef is done, I fish out the mirepoix and discard. Then, add fresh carrots and celery, very coarsely chopped, onions, quartered, the cabbage and some potatoes.

We serve this all with some rye bread and an assortment of good mustards.

And beer.

Of course of course.

[bigbear]

.....

Also, we like potatoes with our corned beef and cabbage.

Anyway, after the corned beef is done, I fish out the mirepoix and discard.  Then, add fresh carrots and celery, very coarsely chopped, onions, quartered, the cabbage and some potatoes.

We serve this all with some rye bread and an assortment of good mustards.

And beer.

Of course of course.

Jaymes..... Of course, of course. Also try adding some parsnips and/or some turnips sometime.

[Kim WB]

I'm a better than average American cook, trying mightily to become better Indian/Asian.European cook...anyway, corned beef is never a success fior me. or my guests...PLEase, the difinitive recipe. ???

[col klink]

What haven't you liked about it? I've never done the traditional brisket but I do know that you need long and slow cooking to make brisket tender. I suppose a crock pot would work well especially if you let it go for 5 to 6 hours.

[Jaymes]

I haven't corned a brisket from scratch for many years, since the stores began offering the raw, but already corned ones like Rich bought. I think they're very good.

And after that, there's really not much to it. Just long, slow cooking (like Klink says). I do use the crockpot if I'm not going to be home. Or a Dutch oven if I am. Put the brisket into a large heavy pot, add water (sometimes I'll put in a little beer as well) to cover. Add whatever else you think might be good (see above) or nothing additional - it already has spices added. Cover and cook for a long, slow time - skimming the foam off occasionally (the instructions are usually on the packet).

There's really nothing more to it than that - unless you are trying to corn a brisket from scratch - that is more complicated. I just don't bother doing that anymore.

What are you doing that seems so difficult???

[richw]

Thanks to everyone for their great feedback

I think Jaymes' last post has it exactly right:

Cover and cook for a long, slow time

And if you have a crock pot, you simply cannot mess it up. I'll be adding mirepoix and a bay leaf or two this time.

Rich

[col klink]

Last week I tried some corned beef that was just roasted in the oven, long and slow, like brisket should, and it was quite tasty. Granted you don't get the whole pot of food like you'd do with the above recipes but if you really like the taste of the corned beef, it's a great way to go.

[fifi]

There is a discussion thread under United States->South & Southwest called Corned Beef Cowboys that you might want to take a look at. (Sorry, I don't know how to put a link here.)

There is a good recipe for the "pot of stuff" that has been cited there. In fact, I plan to do that this weekend since I haven't done the "pot of stuff" in a while.

Another alternate to the crock pot or heavy pot is the Reynolds Cooking Bags. This is what I have done most often. I put it in a bag with a beer and maybe some fruit juice and extra seasonings. Put that in a baking pan and let it go at 250 for several hours. Five or six should do it, depending upon size.

[richw]

Last week I tried some corned beef that was just roasted in the oven, long and slow, like brisket should, and it was quite tasty. Granted you don't get the whole pot of food like you'd do with the above recipes but if you really like the taste of the corned beef, it's a great way to go.

col klink,

I really would like to give your oven roasted corned beef a try. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

[*]Oven temp and how long?

[*] Do you put in a covered roasting pan with or without liquid?

[*]Do you soak or rinse the corned beef before the roast? I would think that it remains much saltier without boiling.

Thanks,

Rich

[col klink]

225F for about 4 to 5 hours, in an uncovered roasting pan, preferably on a rack, no braising. The idea is to break down the fat so it's soft and silky. You could even let it go for 6 hours depending on the size and fattiness of the cut.

For most commercial corned briskets I would let it soak in water a couple of times before I started cooking it since there's so much salt, but I enjoyed the unsoaked as well. You just can't eat as much!

[RHenry]

Oh My - My.

Has anyone ever heard of a New England Boiled Dinner?

On St. Patties Day, this was served:

Corned beef

Cabbage

Carrots

Beets

Potato

Chunk of Hard Bread

Also, we served this meal [in the Boston area] every Thursday!

'Livin best to yall!!

RH

[Kobicook]

I simmer my corned beef but always add extra pickling spice to it. Anyone else?

Jaymes, preferred mustards?

[bigbear]

One hour in a pressure cooker.

[Rhea_S]

I slow-roasted my corned beef last year and it was excellent. I love corned beef anyway, but slow-roasting gave the corned beef a slightly sweet taste. I cooked the veggies separately in a pot with broth and corned beef spices. And all of you do know that the best part of the corned beef is the leftovers?

[col klink]

Oh yeah, I prefer my corned beef to be smoked.

[Rhea_S]

Your smoked corned beef was delicious. Guajalote brought some to Awbrig's party (in case you didn't read the Chicago party thread) and everyone devoured it very quickly. It even got a vegetarian to eat meat!

[col klink]

That makes me so very proud. *sniff* *sniff*

[richw]

225F for about 4 to 5 hours, in an uncovered roasting pan, preferably on a rack, no braising. The idea is to break down the fat so it's soft and silky. You could even let it go for 6 hours depending on the size and fattiness of the cut.

For most commercial corned briskets I would let it soak in water a couple of times before I started cooking it since there's so much salt, but I enjoyed the unsoaked as well. You just can't eat as much! 

Col Klink,

Thanks for the details! I 'll certainly post back when I get a chance to give it a try.

Thanks

Rich

[fifi]

On New Year's eve day, I went out in search of a big chunk of corned beef, either a whole one or a tip. The goal was to put it on the Weber smoker and try smoked corned beef a la klink. Four stops later, all I could find were smallish flats. Not looking good for the smoking plan. There seemed to be a shortage or something. The burchers all had a similar story... "We were supposed to get four cases but they only delivered one. We ran out thirty minutes ago." ARG!

I picked up about a four pound flat at the last stop. I was able to find one with a decent amount of fat cap and a middle line of fat and I am thinking... now what? Not enough fat for smoking. I am looking at the little piss-ant package of seasoning enclosed with the beef. AH HA! That looks suspiciously like crab and shrimp boil. An idea is beginning to take shape.

I go to the spice aisle. Crap! No Zatarain's on the shelf. Oh well... McCormick's will have to do. I got home with this thing, put my blackeyed peas and ham hocks in the crockpot and started to think about the corned beef and the timing for New Year's day dinner. I put the beef in one of the big zip baggies, dumped in the whole bag of seafood boil spices, massaged those onto the surface and threw it in the fridge.

The next morning, I got up and stumbled around a bit. I got one of the Le Creuset ovens that made a good fit. I plopped the brisket in there, spices and all, put about 1/4 cup dark brown sugar on top of the thing, about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, threw it into a 225F oven, said "bless you, you fiend" and walked off. Went to Topwater Grill for bloody marys. Nephew arrived later in the afternoon. And we started putting the dinner together. Had to do the cabbage.

I took the brisket out, knocked off the biggest piles of spices and started to slice. Oh... My... God! My knife, pretty sharp but not great, went through the meat like butter. The fat was a melting wonder and the flavor hit you right in the snoot. Nephew and I looked at each other, eyes wide. Nephew says... "Holy Shit!" A four pound corned beef dissappeared in about twenty minutes.

I decided to try it again today so I would have leftovers for next week. I found the Zatarain's this time out and sliced up a couple of white onions to sit it on just because it seemed like a good idea at the time. The onions are wonderful. But... I don't like the Zatarain's mix as much as the McCormick's. The McCormick's has more allspice and cloves. But the Zatarain's has red pepper flakes. Go figure.

Here is the final deal:

About a 4 lb. corned beef with a good amount of fat if you can get it

1 package McCormick's seafood boil spices in the bag

1 Tablespoon, or to taste, red pepper flakes

2 medium onions, sliced

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Rinse the corned beef well. Put it in a bowl under running cold water for about 20 minutes. Dry and put in a large plastic bag. Open the bag of spices and put in the bag with the meat. Massage spices in to evenly coat. Refrigerate, maybe even overnight. Heat oven to 225F. Slice onions and put in the bottom of a dutch oven. Place the beef on the onions. Distribute brown sugar on the top of the meat. Add a little water to the bottom of the pot, about 1/4 inch. Cover and cook for about 6 hours. Knock off the majority of the spices by dipping some of the liquid over the meat to rinse them off. Don't get too particular about this. Grab most of the onions out of the liquid and set aside for use later. Strain the juice and reserve for later.

I use the reserved juice for reheating. The onions can be added to a sandwich. I added onions to corned beef wrapped in a flour tortilla with a little sour cream. Now THAT is multi-cultural.

Any other ideas out there when you can't find corned beef worth smoking?

[bloviatrix]

I put the corned beef in boiling water for about 3 hours. Take it out and let cool. Then slice, paint a glaze (I do a pineapple-ginger glaze) and bake for about 40 minutes (with basting).

When I serve it for guests there's never any left.

[jsolomon]

Hmm... are either of you looking for a young-ish bachelor with an appetite?

[Richard Kilgore]

Wow! That sounds great Fifi. I'll have to try it soon.

[edemuth]

Any other ideas out there when you can't find corned beef worth smoking?

Braise it with beer, as I did this St. Patrick's Day. Hopefully my Irish ancestors forgave the use of Belgian beer (and a kriek at that)!

[pkenna]

I put the corned beef in boiling water for about 3 hours. Take it out and let cool. Then slice, paint a glaze (I do a pineapple-ginger glaze) and bake for about 40 minutes (with basting).

I tried a mixture of the 2. I boiled the corned beef for around 2.5 hours, took it out and put the beef in a small oval corningware dish. Next, I sprinkled about 1/4 cup of brown sugar on top of the beef and put about 1/2 an inch of fresh oj diluted w/water in the bottom. baked for about an hour and then spooned the liquid over top the sugar and beef.

served w/ mashed potatos. I thought it tasted pretty good.

Thanks for the ideas....

-pk