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Here is the deal – you can of course buy corned beef ready-made :-(, – or you can make your own, which in most cases will leave you not only with a far superior product, but also with unbeatable bragging rights 🙂
Usually, you want to brine your brisket for about 10 days (depending on the size), but if you add the beef to a boiling brine, bring it back to a simmer for a few minutes, then cool it down in the brine, your beef should be ready after 4 – 6 day’s, again depending on the size of the brisket. (Cut it into smaller pieces if you are pressed on time, the brine will penetrate faster)
So, two weeks ago I bought 8 lbs of the finest brisket I could find – grass-fed, organic – no added hormones nor added antibiotics. At about $ 10.00 a lb, this was a sizable investment, but judging after the first test, well worth the Mula. Bella agreed, as you can see in the pic below 🙂 Then there was the waiting time for ten days until yesterday, when I cooked the meat for about 2,5 hours, (one more time – cooking time depends on the size of the brisket) and then, finally, corned beef wonderland !
Bella and I had some of it yesterday, the rest will be had for a variety of dishes for the next few days leading up to St Paddy’s day.
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Bon Appetit ! Life Is Good !
Click here for Corned Beef Brine
Please note that I omitted the Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) in the brine of the corned beef. Saltpeter will turn the meat into the bright- red colored corned beef we are normally used to. However, I am trying to stay away from the stuff since my doctor has given me the news that all the medicine I am forced to take has messed up my kidney’s, most notably Metformin. Saltpeter is therefore not an ingredient I should use in my food. On top of that, if you want to use the stock from cooking the corned beef for a soup, you sure don’t want that soup to be laced with saltpeter ! After the corned beef is cooked, you want to strain the stock and reserve for further use for soup and/ or sauce. I will make a Velouté with some of the stock to make a horseradish sauce for my “Corned Beef With Horseradish Sauce And Colcannon“. (Upcoming post).
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to serve, slice into 1’3 inch thick slices
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Bella approves 🙂
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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- After ten days, remove beef from marinade, discard brine, rinse meat well
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- cover meat with cold water, add fresh ground black pepper and garlic paste, simmer until meat is tender but NOT ! falling apart
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- meat can be stored in lightly salted water in refrigerator for up to seven days
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- to serve, slice into 1’3 inch thick slices
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- Bella loves it 🙂
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