Or your favorites, even if you’ve screwed it up once or twice;).
Corned beef is on sale at the local supermarket and I’m having an immense craving for corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread (it has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day…I swear… :dubious: ). But I’ve never cooked corned beef before. I can find recipes all over the 'net, but I’d rather get a recipe from someone who’s actually made it.
(I already have a good recipe for Irish soda bread that I can use, but hell, throw in those recipes if you’ve got 'em, too. Maybe I’ll try something new.)
I always cook the brisket with the spice packet in my pressure cooker. Then I do the cabbage, a few potatoes and a couple carrots in the liquid left after cooking the brisket. Always get good, tender meat this way and it is fast.
I simply cook the brisket as directed on the package - throw the brisket in a large pot, cover with water, add the contents of the seasoning packet, then bring to a boil. Once we’re boiling, lower the temp to a simmer and let 'er simmer for, oh, a coupla hours. The one time I added cabbage, I cut the cabbage into rough chunks and threw it in with the brisket about 15 or 20 minutes or so before the brisket was done.
I chunk up some potatoes and put them on the bottom of my slow cooker. Then in go the corned beef and the spices, and then beer, not water. I usually let it go for about eight hours on low.
I used to throw the cabbage on the top for the last half-hour or so, but lately I’ve been roasting that seperately in the oven, with a little olive oil, salt, and black pepper on it. Delicious.
I have a hint about adding the cabbage. Try to quarter the head, but leave the the inner core and a bit of the outer stem on. That way it’ll stay together and won’t be just a bunch of loose cabbage floating around. Cut the core out upon removal from the pot.
This is basically my method, except for along with the corned beef I also add a whole onion with about four cloves stuck in it and leave that in for the duration, and then chuck it before serving.
I serve the corned beef with some horseradish mixed in with sour cream for a nice sauce.
Lotsa folks coming to my apartment for food tomorrow night.
As I had stated in another thread a short while ago, I got a tip in an earlier thread to cook the corned beef for “24 hours. Not 23, not 25. Twenty-Four” and it came out GREAT! I put it in about an hour earlier than I expect to eat the next night and at about the 23rd hour I take some water from the crock pot and put it in a seperate pot where I cook the cabbage, carrots and potatoes.
I was afraid the CB would disintegrate in that time but it was the best tasting and most tender CB we have ever had.
I just started it out on the low setting, not high as is typical, and it was perfect.
I cook 12 hours in crockpot (low), then remove and stick it in the oven for 15 minutes with a (thin) glaze of brown sugar and spicy mustard. Remove and let the glaze set up. Cook the cabbage in the CP liquid while fooling around with the glaze (less than 20 minutes so it’s still crunchy).
I cook my CB&C in the crockpot too. I use half beer and half water. I like a richer beer like a Killian’s which also go good with the prepared meal. I add a bay leaf in addition to the spices, potato’s, garlic and onion and I cook it about 8 hours total, and don’t put the cabbage in until the last hour or so. I make grilled reuben sandwiches the next day for lunch, so make sure you pick up some rye bread, swiss, and thousand island dressing. Mmmm, I can’t wait!
I cook the cabbage and about half an onion, (90 degree wedges for the onion, 45 for the cabbage) in a pressure cooker. I throw in a tsp. of caraway seeds to prevent that funky sulfurous cabbage smell. 1 cup water, 9 minutes.
This year, I braised the CB brisket in a deep skillet (boil, then simmer.) In addition to the spice packet, I added coriander and garam masala. After 2 1/2 hours, it was up to 195 degrees. I should have waited longer, to reduce all the connective tissue to gelatin, but I didn’t start early enough.
