Luck of the Irish - a traditional "Irish" meal, at least here in America was served at our home tonight. Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Roasted Sweet and Red Potatoes. All that was missing was Irish Soda Bread and a Guinness Chocolate Cake that I have a recipe but lack the energy and willpower not to devour if they were in my house. Therefore, they were not baked - I spent my day outside in our beautiful sunny weather planting new shrubs and plants in my front beds.
Several weeks ago, we bought 1/2 of a cow that we then split with a family member, leaving us with 125 lbs of beef. One of the cuts of beef that we received was Beef Brisket. We decided to turn our Brisket into Corned Beef courtesy of Alton Brown's recipe. Following this recipe required some special purchases - Juniper Berries, Allspice Berries, and Saltpeter. Saltpeter was a tricky product to locate but a local pharmacy was able to order it for me (you have to love service like that!).
Essentially, you create a brine for the Beef Brisket, leaving the meat to soak for days. Pretty simple.
To cook the Brisket, I finished following Alton Brown's recipe.
Add cut veggies of celery, carrot and onion to a large pot with the brisket.
Add enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
Bring to a boil then lower to simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Smelled Heavenly in my kitchen today!
