corned beef

looking for a recipe for this will be first thanks in advance

after mixing my own spices for years making corned beef, I found Penzey's spices (www.penzeys.com). Here's my current recipe:

2 quarts water
Morton's Tender Quick cure power*
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 TBS Penzey' Corned Beef spices
1 trimmed beef brisket, or top round roast**

Place ingredients into a ziplock bag, and add beef. Let sit in 'fridge 7-10 days.

* amount depends on weight of meat.
** I prefer the top round roast

I grill or roast the meat after curing and serve "mit kraut"

Brine:
1 gal water
2 c kosher salt
1/2 c sugar
1 oz pink salt (insta-cure or equivalent)
3 garlic cloves minced
2 T Pickling spice

5# brisket
2 T pickling spice



Pickling Spice:
2 T Black Peppercorns - toasted, then cracked
2 T mustard seed - toasted, then cracked
2 T coriander seeds- toasted, then cracked
2 T red pepper flakes
2 T Allspice berries
1 T ground mace
2 small cinnamon sticks crushed or broken into pieces
24 bay leaves crumbled
2 T whole cloves
1 T ground ginger

Combine brine ingredients in a pot large enough to hold the brisket comfortably. Simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Cool then refrigerate until chilled.

Place brisket in brine, keeping it submerged, refrigerate 5 days.

remove brisket, thoroughly rinse

Place in large pot. cover w/ enough water to cover brisket

Add remaining 2 T pickling spice, boil, reduce heat to simmer ~ 3 hrs or until fork tender.

Recipe taken from "Charcuterie" Have not tried this one, but all of the recipes in this book are VERY solid.

PASTRAMI/CORNED BEEF RECIPE
adapted from Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio

INGREDIENTS
1 4-5 pound brisket

Brine
2 liters water (half gallon)
25 grams of pink curing salt* (1 ounce or 5 teaspoons)
50 grams sugar (1¼ ounces or scant ¼ cup)
100 grams kosher salt
10 cloves garlic, flattened with the flat side of a knife
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon whole allspice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick, crushed or broken into pieces
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon whole cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger

* The key to preserving pastrami’s familiar red color is using pink curing salt (i.e. sodium nitrite). You can order it online at butcher-packer.com. You can omit it, but the pastrami will be brownish gray instead of red.

Put the trimmed brisket in brine for at least 2 weeks, not a typo, really at least two weeks.

For corned beef braise the brisket for 2-3 hours.

For pastrami place a dry rub of black pepper and coriander seed. Then smoke the brisket for 3-4 hours.

I have only made this as pastrami. It is nearly as good as the NYC deli's.

This is my favorite recipe for what is actually Irish Boiled Dinner. It is from Jeff Smith's book "The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors:
Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother"


One 3 1/2-pound fresh beef brisket
Two 12-ounce bottles lager beer
2 cups water (or enough to cover)
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 cups chopped and rinsed leeks (white parts only)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
3/4 pound large carrots, cut into large pieces
3/4 pounds small red potatoes
1 pound turnips, peeled and quartered
2 pounds green cabbage, cut in sixths
(secure with toothpicks)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place an 8- to 10-quart stove-top covered casserole on the burner and
add the beef, beer, water, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley, and salt.
Heat a frying pan and add the butter or olive oil. Sauté the garlic, leeks,
and yellow onion for a few minutes and add to the casserole. Cover the
pot and simmer gently for 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.
(This will normally take about 1 hour per pound of brisket.) In the last
25 minutes of cooking, add the carrots and red potatoes. In the last 15
minutes of cooking, add the turnips, cabbage, salt and pepper.
If the vegetables are not done to your liking, cook them longer, but do
not overcook. Remove the toothpicks from the cabbage before serving.

You know, I made a corned beef last year and then spent the next week making Reuben sandwiches and corned beef hash, because my wife doesn't like corned beef. It's not that I don't love corned beef, but I never want to eat that much of it again.

I used the Penzey's mix...it's quite tasty.