Corned Beef and Cabbage with Carrots, Onions, and Potatoes
RECIPE – BRINING
5 lb Beef Brisket
1 gallon cold water
2 cups Kosher Salt
1 oz Pink Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1 large head of Garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoon Pickling Spice
1 teaspoon Red Chile Flake
Fill a large pot with the cold water and set on the burner to boil. Assemble all of the ingredients and chop the garlic. A kitchen scale isn’t imperative for the pink salt, but it can really be a useful tool. Add the kosher salt, pink salt, sugar, garlic, and pickling spice into the water and stir. Bring the water up to a boil, then take off the heat and cool and refrigerate.
The next day, add the brisket to the cool brine and keep submerged. If using a container, weigh down with a heavy plate, canning jar, etc. Ensure all of the air is removed if using a brining bag. Store the brisket in the Fridge, and every couple of days, stir the brine and rotate the meat.
RECIPE – COOKING
2 or 3 Tablespoons Pickling Spice
Any combination of Carrots, Onions, Red Potatoes, and cabbage
Ten days later, take out the brisket, rinse briefly, then put in a large pot of cold water with the pickling spice. Bring up to a boil, immediately turn down the heat, and simmer for 2-1/2 to 3 hours until tender.
Cabbage is a Given - But add whatever you want!
Take the corned beef out of the pot, put on a plate or platter and tent loosly with foil. Add vegetables – Put in large pieces first, smaller ones after 10 minutes. I’ll usually halve the carrots and onions, quarter the onions, and cut the cabbage into wedges – But you can certaily cut everything into finer pieces if you like. Cook until tender, 10 minutes or more. I usually prefer red potatoes over yukons for this dish, but everything you see I picked up at the Farmers Market in February with two feet of snow on the ground! With that much effort on the part of the Farmer I had to use what I found….
Slice the corned beef and serve with the vegetables. I’ll usually spoon a bit of the liquid from the pot on top to keep things nice and moist and serve with condiments of your choice – Mustard, Horseradish, Guiness Beer, etc…
If you want to slice some corned beef for sandwiches, Wait until the next day as it will slice better cold. You can store everything together in the fridge and even save some of the liquid as well – Corned beef tends to dry out, so you want to do everything you can to prevent that. I’ve even frozen slices of corned beef – I’ll freeze some of the liquid first, then chop a hunk off and add to the package before freezing the beef. The liquid will both moisten and flavor the corned been when defrosted and warmed.