Feast: St. Patrick’s Day Recipe – Corned Beef

According to Wikipedia, while the consumption of corned beef has become associated with Saint Patrick’s Day, it did not actually originate in Ireland.  It became an integral part of Irish-American culture and is often related to Irish holidays such as Saint Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, the closest traditional dish is Bacon and Cabbage (more akin to Canadian style bacon or ham). Corned beef and cabbage became popular in America after Irish immigrants in the eastern United States used corned beef instead of pork in their traditional dish.

Corned beef was originally used as a substitute for bacon by Irish American immigrants in the late 1800s.  Irish immigrants living in New York City’s Lower East Side sought an equivalent in taste and texture to their traditional Irish bacon, and learned about this cheaper alternative to bacon from their Jewish neighbors.

A similar dish is the New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef, cabbage, and root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, and potatoes, which is popular in New England and parts of Atlantic Canada.

Here’s a Corned Beef recipe for your St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations courtesy of Alton Brown at FoodNetwork.com:

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 3 hr 0 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons saltpeter
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 12 whole juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pounds ice
• 1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket, trimmed
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

Directions

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.

After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

*Note:  I’m guessing that if you only have 5 days, that will be fine as well, but closer to the 10 probably provides for a more ‘supple’ meat.*