Skip to main content

House-Cured Corned Beef for #FoodNFlix


Joanne at What's on the List? is hosting this month's Food'N'Flix event. We watched, or rewatched as the case may be, The Quiet Man. Click to see Joanne's invitation.

Food‘nFlix
This post contains an affiliate link for the DVD at the bottom. 

On the Screen...
I didn't remember that I had ever seen this movie, but when I was in the middle of it, Jake walked in the front door. "Oh, The Quiet Man!" he exclaimed. "I'm surprised you're watching this...you didn't sit through the whole thing the first time we watched it together." Huh? Apparently he loves the movie and tried to get me to watch it with him a decade ago. Whoops. Well, we did settle in on the couch that evening after we put the boys to bed, I started it over, and we did watch it together. Finally. Ten years after we started it.

Often relegated to a cowboy or military man, John Wayne, in The Quiet Man, plays former boxer Sean Thornton who has returned to Ireland after killing someone in the ring. I won't spoil too much of the movie. Suffice it to say there's lots of testosterone involved. And pride. And whiskey. And potatoes. It's the perfect movie for St. Patrick's Day with all the singing, the drinking, and the scenery.

On the Plate...
Joanne's timing was impeccable. I knew I could kill two birds with one stone and post our St. Patrick's Day recipes and my Food'N'Flix recipe together. Thanks for the good planning!

Corned beef is something that my family really enjoys. And every year I ask myself why I only do it on St. Patrick's Day. It's called corned beef - not because there is any corn involved - because the meat used to be cured with large grains of rock salt called 'corns of salt.' You do need a 5 to 7 day headstart on this dish, so plan accordingly.

Ingredients 
Pickling spices (makes more than you'll need for this recipe, but stores well)
  • 1 T whole allspice berries
  • 1 T whole mustard seeds
  • 1 T  coriander seeds
  • 1 T red pepper flakes
  • 1 T whole cloves
  • 1 T whole green peppercorns
  • 9 whole cardamom pods
  • 6 large bay leaves, crumbled
  • 2 t ground ginger
  • 1 stick cinnamon
Brine
  • 1 gallon water
  • 2 C salt (I used large chunks of sea salt, not sure those qualified as 'corns')
  • 3 T pickling spices
  • 1/2 C organic dark brown sugar
Brisket
  • 1 4-5 pound beef brisket
  • 1 T pickling spices

Procedure
Mix all of the pickling spices together in a large jar. Shake to incorporate. Add about 3 T of the pickling spice mix, plus the cinnamon stick, to a large souppot along with the salt and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate until chilled; I left mine overnight.

Place the brisket in the pot, covered with the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 5 to 7 days. I didn't plan that far ahead, so mine was only about 4 and a half days. Each day flip the brisket over in the brine.

At the end of the cure, remove the brisket from the brine and rinse in cold water. Place the brisket in a large souppot and cover with, at least, two inches of water. Add a tablespoon of the pickling spices to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer (barely bubbling), and cook 4 to 5 hours*, until the corned beef is fork tender. Let cool and refrigerate in its cooking water if you're not going to eat it immediately.

*Note; the beef was so, so tender. Maybe too tender. It fell apart and I couldn't slice it. Next time, I'll try 3 to 4 hours, instead of 5.

For our St. Patrick's Day dinner 2015 I served this with Colcannon and a Kale-Kissed Whiskey Algonquin.


Thanks for hosting, Joanne. We'll be back in April when I'm hosting. Stay tuned for my invitation. We'll be watching Chef.

  

Comments

  1. Looks divine! I've never had corned beef, but I sure want to try now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pickling your own corned beef for St. Pat's Day.....you make me hang my head in shame...you are Wonder Woman!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks amazing Cam! I can almost smell it from here and am glad you and Jake could enjoy this movie together! Thank you for participating in this month's #foodnflix that I thoroughly enjoyed being a debut host and can't wait until tomorrow! Pinned and shared the love!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great traditional looking meal---rounded out well with the colcannon and whiskey! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks great. Wish I had the patience to do one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Since I stopped cooking/eating meet I really miss good corned beef. You are giving me such a craving right now--I drooled over my keyboard. ;-) Great post and a great dinner.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce