Corn your own beef for St. Paddy's

I recently butchered my own beef and managed to save the brisket. Yes, what I did takes far more effort than getting a prepackaged corned beef brisket, on sale seemingly everywhere at the moment. Corned beef is beef brisket cured in a seasoned brine. The term “corned” beef comes from the English use of the word “corn,” meaning any small particle, such as a grain of salt.

I watched a national television show recently and was inspired by the host to make my own corned beef. I thought I would be extra special and do twice as much, because corned beef is really good anytime, not just around St. Patrick’s Day, especially the next day when you cut it thin and lightly fry it until golden brown on both sides. The problem became that twice as much amount. Though I doubled the brine, I now had to place it all in the refrigerator for 10 days. The only vessel I had of great size was my water-bath canner. So a shelf of the fridge was cleared out and in went the canner, with 10 pounds of meat, a lot of brine, a plate over the meat to keep it submerged, and the canner lid on upside down, as it would not fit the right way.

I did not like the 10-day wait. Corned beef is good, but stuff in the refrigerator was crammed for 10 days.

The recipe calls for saltpeter to keep the meat that nice pink color after being cooked. Not using saltpeter is okay, just keep in mind that your meat will be gray. Nothing is wrong with it that way. Using ice as the recipe calls for reduces the brine temperature below 41 degrees, keeping it out of the temperature danger zone. When I doubled the recipe, 4 lbs of ice did not fully reduce the temperature of the brine, so I had to refrigerate the brine alone, stirring occasionally, until the temperature dropped below 41 degrees.

Some people like all of the fat on the brisket. The flat slab I purchased seemed to have a lot of extra fat on it, so I trimmed off the excess. As it was very long, I cut it in half. That would also reduce the size to what you can purchase already corned. It would also help the brining process, as the meat would not be so big and the brine could penetrate better.

I baked the beef in a 190-degree oven until the internal temperature read 180 degrees. This did take some time though. I added some shredded carrot and celery, garlic cloves, and a favorite seasoning blend before baking.

The finished meat was very tasty, though I could have upped the amount of seasonings. But by starting with the below quantities, I can add more as needed. Would I do it again? Yes, but the cost would not compare to the hot deals offered around St. Patrick’s Day by local markets. However, I can adjust the seasonings better than store bought. Plus, I can skip the saltpeter and not worry about the chemical in it.

CORNED BEEF

• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons saltpeter
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 12 whole juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pounds ice
• 1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket, trimmed
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.

After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

• 1 corned beef brisket with spice packet (on sale right now in most any megamart)
• 10 medium potatoes
• 5 carrots
• 1 large head cabbage, cut into small wedges

Place corned beef in large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water. Add the spice packet that came with the corned beef. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound or until tender. Add whole potatoes and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 15 minutes. Place vegetables in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth (cooking liquid reserved in the Dutch oven or large pot) as you want. Slice meat across the grain before serving.

IRISH LAMB STEW

• 1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
• 6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 teaspoon white sugar
• 4 cups diced carrots
• 2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 potatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup white wine

Sauté bacon in large frying pan, reserve fat and bacon. Put lamb, salt, pepper and flour in large mixing bowl-toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat. Put meat into stock pot, leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan. Add the garlic and yellow onion and sauté until onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stockpot with bacon pieces, beef stock and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or till tender. Add remaining ingredients to pot and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

IRISH CRÈME BUNDT CAKE

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, oil and Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze; repeat until all glaze is used up.