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Bruce Binder's Corned Beef and Cabbage


From rec.food.cooking
by Bruce M. Binder
Posted on March 20, 1991.

This recipe is a great way to get rid of skunked beer. It's also a great comfort food. I like this because I love root vegetables. No need to measure any of the ingredients. It's best to start this the night before you want to eat it. Makes the house smell great.

Ingredients

1 large corned beef brisket
2 or 3 cans (0.7 to 1 kg) of cheap beer, e.g. MGD
a couple of dried chiles, perhaps serranos
1 or 2 teaspoons (5-10 mL) coriander seeds
1 or 2 teaspoons (5-10 mL) mustard seeds
a few dashes cinnamon
a few dashes of allspice
3 or 4 large potatoes, scrubbed and chopped in quarters
5 or 6 carrots, coarsely sliced
3 or 4 turnips, scrubbed and sliced
1 large cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 lb (1/2 kg) mixed beans

Netters:

I have received several requests for the original Corned Beef and Beans recipe. I didn't save the original article because I was familiar with the recipe already. This is how I have been cooking my St. Patrick's Day corned beef for the past nine years. It is a little different from the recipe posted but it is close and I like it. Perhaps the original poster can be prevailed upon to post his or her recipe.

Buy a corned beef brisket at your local supermarket. In a pot, pour 12 ounces (340 g) of beer. Add a bay leaf or two, a dried red chile or two, a teaspoon or two (5-10 mL) of coriander seeds, a teaspoon or two (5-10 mL) of mustard seeds, a few dashes of cinnamon, a few dashes of allspice, and all the juice from the corned beef pack. Put the corned beef on a steamer rack in the pot and add water to bring the liquid level up to the bottom of the rack.

Cover the pot and put it on some heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Steam for several hours (it took me five hours for a 4 lb (2 kg) brisket) until the meat doesn't feel rubbery when you stick a fork in it. Add water or beer or both as needed to keep some liquid in the pot. [I usually steam the corned beef over night.]

Remove the meat and slice. Remove the steamer rack. [I just leave the meat in at this point. It's in no condition to slice.] Leave all the other stuff in the pot and put in some potatoes and carrots and turnips or whatever. Add water [or beer!] to cover and boil until the stuff is cooked. Remove all the vegatables and potatoes. [I leave the potatoes, carrots and turnips in.] Put the steamer rack back in and put in some cabbage wedges. Steam them for about five to ten minutes, depending on how crisp or soggy you like cabbage. [I use 15 minutes.] Serve.

Now here is the part I was raving about. This is the first year I have tried this and is based on the brilliant recommendation of a poster whose name and email address I do not have or I would thank him or her personally.

Get out some beans which you have thoughtfully left soaking overnight in water (I used white beans, red beans and black beans all mixed up). Drain them and put them in a pot. Cover them with the liquid that you have been using to cook the corned beef and cabbage and potatoes and vegatables. The liquid should be about an inch higher than the beans. Simmer for three or four hours or until the beans are as firm or as mushy as you like them. The beans will not be ready with the rest of the meal but, as the original poster noted, you can eat them reheated the next day when the flavors have had a chance to "marry".

Delicious. Good luck.

 ___  __  __  ___ 
(  ,)(  \/  )(  ,) 
 ) ,\ )    (  ) ,\  Bruce M. Binder    bruceb@znet.com.nospam
(___/(_/\/\_)(___/  Pacific Beach, California   +1 619 488 2349

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