What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Want to try a gluten-free dessert that tastes anything but? How about hanging your lip on a Nanaimo bar? The recipe's from our neighbors up north, but the gluten-free graham crackers are a creation of Celiac Teen's Lauren. Unbelievable.
Corned Beef
Just about this time last year we went looking for corned beef - or actually the raw brisket with which we could make homemade corned beef. In our neighborhood, we had a couple of options - buy the pre-pack stuff from Safeway that already had pickling spices in it, or pay a mint and buy a chunk of brisket from Whole Foods. We decided to just stay away.
This year, we tried again and hit the jackpot. It was just after St. Patrick's Day and I remembered having seen some brisket at Uwajimaya, our stand-in for weird but hard-to-find meat cuts. I couldn't find any in the meat cases, so I asked the butcher. 'Have I got something for you,' he said (ugh, I hate it when people start that way - I'm bound to be disappointed!). He didn't disappoint. He had 2 large pieces of meat, both Wagyu from Oregon, and both fresh. I didn't want 10 - 13lbs of meat and hesitated - he said not to worry, and pulled out a huge knife and cut me a chunk reasonable for 2 people (4lbs, actually). And the price for this beauty? $5.99/lb. Get that? Pasture raised, no hormones, no additives, WAGYU meat for $5.99/lb. He said when they have smaller pieces of brisket that doesn't sell, they grind it and make it hamburger. Hmm. I bought my 4 lb chunk and headed home.
To make corned beef, you have to brine it in the fridge for 5 days. We had run out of pickling spices, so I made that too - the recipe is below. Both recipes come from our favorite book on preserving, Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.
Corned Beef
Brine
1 gal/4 l water
2 c/450 g kosher salt (Morton's Kosher salt)
1/2 c/100 g sugar
1 oz/25 g pink salt (5 tsp)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T/20 g Pickling Spice (recipe follows, or use store-bought)
One 5lb/2.25kg well-marbled (first-cut) beef brisket
2 T/20g Pickling Spice
- Combine all the brine ingredients in a pot large enough to hold the brisket comfortably. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove the pot from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate the bring until it's completely chilled.
- Place the brisket in the brine and weight it down with a plate to keep it submerged. Refrigerate for 5 days.
- Remove the brisket from the brine and rinse it thoroughly under cool running water. (Resting is not required here because the distribution of the brine will continue in the long, slow cooking process.)
- Place the brisket in a pot just large enough to hold it and add enough water to cover the meat. Add the remaining pickling spice and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for about 3 hours or until the brisket is fork-tender (there should always be enough water to cover the brisket; replenish the water if it gets too low).
- Remove the corned beef from the cooking liquid (which can be used to moisten the meat and vegetables, if that's what you're serving). Slive the beef and serve warm, or cool then wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to serve, or for up to a week.
Yield: 4 1/2 lbs/2kg corned beef, about 8 - 10 servings
Note: We served ours with fried cabbage and creamed spinach - YUM!
Pickling Spice
2 T black peppercorns
2 T mustard seeds
2 T coriander seeds (ours were home grown!)
2 T hot red pepper flakes
2 T allspice berries
1 T ground mace
2 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces
24 bay leaves, crumbled (ours were home grown!)
2 T whole cloves
1 T ground ginger
- Lightly toast the peppercorns, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds in a small dry skillet, then smash them with the side of a knife (or mortar and pestle) just to crack them.
- Combine the cracked spices with the remaining ingredients, mixing well. Store in a tightly sealed container or glass jar.
Yield: 1 cup
