If you find you’re missing a few that this recipe calls for, Penzeys is an excellent place to order good-quality spices (and dried herbs). Pre-packaged pickling spice, though not necessarily a bad option, doesn’t have the same effect. Trust me, it makes a difference, because toasting spices really helps them come to life. I toasted and ground several, which really heightened their flavor. Now I’ll step down off of this soapbox.Īside from the quality of the meat, the spices really make this corned beef stand out. You’ll find that even the cheapest chuck roast from your farmer’s market will give you spectacular results, and be healthier for your family. I want to know where my food comes from, and how it was raised. I do my best to minimize our food chain by buying meats, cheeses, milk, and vegetables from folks that I’ve developed relationships with. I can’t stress enough how strongly I feel about this. Avoid mass-retail supermarket beef that has been raised in crammed cattle yards, corn-fed, and pumped full of antibiotics. Buy it from the farmer’s market, co-op, or your local butcher. I’m talking about buying from a reputable producer. And by best, I don’t mean most expensive. You should always use the best quality meat you can find. Indulge me for a moment while I talk about buying ingredients. The result is a succulent, tender piece of meat, with that perfect “corned-beef” flavor. However, the more I read, I knew I had to give it a try. When I first made this dish, I thought that there was really no way I was going to ruin a beautiful five-pound piece of farm-raised beef (which I purchased from these lovely folks) by boiling it. And yes, you read correctly, you boil the beef. Gather some spices, brine the beef for five days, boil, and eat. Making corned beef is so simple it’s almost silly. And for the record, this version is the best corned beef I’ve ever tasted. It’s so good that I can’t possibly make it just once a year in celebration of my husband’s ( very minimal) Irish heritage. It refers to curing beef with “grains” of salt. The word “corned” was originally a term used for the word grain or kernel. Patrick’s Day is still several weeks away, I’m going to try to convince you to make your own corned beef. Even so, now is as good a time as any to share this wonderful recipe with you. So what does this have to do with corned beef? Absolutely nothing, I guess. The pork shoulder was incredible, we finished most of the home projects (even after being out-and-about a lot), and sledding with the little ones was a blast. And while we were a bit disappointed that one never really materialized, we were still able to enjoy all of our preparations. It’s a cause for celebration around our house. You see, my husband and I love a good storm. Even so, the few inches of snow that fell made for a lovely weekend. Alas…the storm turned out not to be much of a storm at all. We even stopped by the hardware store, since I had hopes of getting a few home projects completed while we expected to be snowed in. We dusted off the sleds for some post-storm riding. In anticipation, I prepared a braised pork shoulder and polenta to keep us warm. We were bracing for a whopper of a Winter storm here in St.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |