Corned Beef

A Day without Sunshine



The sun didn't come up yesterday. Or, if it did, I didn't see it. The weather was darkly overcast -- the sky a rag of gray flannel stretching from barren treetop to dreary hillside. The wind was cold and gusting, hurling flourishes of rain and ice. It was the epitome of an East Tennessee January day with no color to provide visual warmth or snow to add romance. It was just plain cold and nasty.

There's only one way to deal with a day like that -- cook. And I knew just what I wanted.

One of these days I'm going to think of having corned beef long enough in advance to try corning my own brisket. But not this day. A quick trip to the store garnered a three pound packaged corned beef, some potatoes, turnips, carrots, and cabbage.

Back at the house I made a mug of cocoa, rinsed the brisket, and dumped it in my Dutch oven with assorted pickling spices and beer. It went on the stove until it simmered and then into the oven to slowly braise though the afternoon. Filling the house with a thick blanket of savory scent to ward heart and soul against the whisperings of wind and sleet.

New England Boiled Dinner

1 ea 3 - 4 lb corned beef brisket -- trimmed of visible fat
1 ea bottle of beer
2 tsp mustard seed
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp juniper berries
1 ea bay leaf
4 ea carrots -- peeled and cut into 1" lengths
2 ea lg. Onion -- cut into quarters
1/2 head cabbage -- cut into quarters
4 ea turnips (2" diameter) -- cut in half
4 ea waxy potatoes (2" diameter) -- cut in half

Heat oven to 325F.

Rinse corned beef and place in a large dutch oven. Add beer, 1 carrot, 1 onion, and all spices. Add enough water to barely cover brisket. Place over medium heat and bring to a vigorous simmer. Cover and place on lower-middle rack in oven.

Cook 1 hour, turn brisket over, and add enough additional water (if needed) to bring level half-way up meat. Repeat 1 hour later.

After 3 hours, remove from oven and remove brisket from broth and set on a plate. Strain out carrots and onions and discard. Add all remaining vegetables, place on stove over medium-low heat, cover, and cook for half an hour or until vegetables are fork tender. Remove from heat.

Slice brisket across the grain and add it back to vegetable mixture to warm up. Serves 6.

I like to serve this with a collection of mustards: Dijon, Polish, honey-mustard, whatever. Then I'll smear one slice of meat with Dijon, another with honey-mustard, and a potato with Polish. The various mustards give each bite a unique flavor.

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