Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - CORNED BEEF
Unbeknownst to any of my webby friends (OK, I have only 1), I made a corned beef Thanksgiving week. I had a grass-fed beef brisket (come to find out, it was two small ones) and decided to make corned beef.
A few months ago, my friend Sara at iliketoccok (we do need to talk about capitalization, Sara) made an Irish Spiced Beef for her boss. She hated the final product, but I was fascinated. Reading Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman, I found his corned beef recipe was VERY similar to Sara’s most hated spiced beef. He had as much salt as Sara’s, but in a brine and was prepared in 1/3rd of the time. So, I did what any good cook would do – I combined them and went for it! Here’s my recipe:
Corned Beef
Brine:
1 gallon water
2 cups (1 pound) Morton's kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 ounce (5 teaspoons) Saltpeter
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp Mustards seed, ground
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground mace
3 dried bay leaves
Combine everything in a pot and bring to a boil to dissolve the salt and sugar. Once combined, remove from heat and cool down to room temperature. Refrigerate the cooled mixture until well chilled. Add a 4-5 pound beef brisket (or two smaller ones) to chilled mixture, weigh it down with a plate and refrigerate 5-7 days.
Remove from brine, rinse under cold water and add to boiling water and simmer for 3 hours.
Slice and serve.
OK, too much clove. Reduce to ¼ teaspoon and I believe you will have the best corned beef of your life!! Seriously.
The unholy saltiness Sara experienced is gone with a gallon of water and ½ the soak time. This is worth the work and time – it will be great.
| 