Cook your corned beef slowly for tenderness

I’ve had the opportunity lately to visit some restaurants and see how some places work. Some places clearly have their game on and run a first-class operation in the kitchen. Think clean and organized. The chef clearly knows how to cook and has trained his staff accordingly. Then you have the other extreme, where the kitchen is sort of a near-disaster, and the guy in charge is doing an interesting job of winging it.

One restaurant I visited last week, outside of the Basin, was being run by a fellow who was thrust into a head cook job after the actual chef walked out. The place was just winding down from a busy lunch and the kitchen was slowly recovering from the mayhem. We got to talking about meats, and then corned beef. The day before, I had an amazingly cooked corned beef brisket made by a representative from Ray’s Meats out of Yakima, so I had brought this up in my discussion. The head cook asked me how I would go about making my corned beef, but I only got out about three words before he started telling me how he was going to do it. His way was to get a large pot of boiling water going, drop in the meat, boil for three hours, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate overnight. I didn’t get the chance to tell him there was a slightly better way to do it. He had the idea of cooking the meat at a low temperature for a long time, but putting the meat to boil wouldn’t do it any favors. If he still insisted on cooking it like that, it would have been better to cook at barely a simmer. Better yet would be to put it in the oven, set at about 200 degrees or less, until the temperature registered 165 degrees. The longer it takes, the more likely the meat would come out more tender.

My favorite way to have the corned beef is for breakfast the next day. I like to heat a small frying pan with a little bit of butter and take thin slices of corned beef and place them in the hot butter until browned and crispy on the edges. Flip them over and do the other side the same way. Serve with eggs and toast.

What should you do with the leftover cooking liquid? I was thinking about that as I was transferring the leftover meat to another pan. Because of the flavor profile of the usual seasonings in the brisket packet, it doesn’t translate very well to other uses. I suppose you could heat it to boiling and then mix in a bit of a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up a bit, but that doesn’t sound too appetizing in and of itself. You could take a leftover piece of brisket, and chop it into a small dice, along with a small handful each of onion, carrots, and celery and brown them in a bit of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. When fully browned, remove them from the pan and pour in a cup or two of the leftover brisket cooking liquid and bring to a simmer, scraping any browned bits into the liquid. When hot, thicken with a cornstarch slurry to desired thickness. Adjust seasonings, like adding salt, before serving.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

1 corned beef brisket with spice packet

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 simmer for approximately 50 minutes per pound or until tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 30 minutes. Place cabbage in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth as you want. Slice meat across the grain before serving.

POTATO CASSEROLE

2 cups shredded potatoes

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon minced onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 8x8 baking dish. In a bowl, combine the potatoes, butter, eggs, onion, salt and paprika. Mix well. Place potato mixture into the baking dish and pour milk over top. Bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle top with cheese, return to oven and bake until cheese melts and is slightly browned.

MINTY CHOCOLATE PIE

1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 quart mint chocolate chip ice cream

4 tablespoons crème de menthe liqueur

1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

3 egg whites

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons crème de menthe liqueur

1/3 cup sugar

Combine 1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press firmly over bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Freeze. Spread half of softened ice cream in crust. Drizzle 2 tablespoons crème de menthe and sprinkle 1/2 cup cookie crumbs over the ice cream. Repeat. Freeze till firm. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar, and beat until slightly stiff. Gradually beat in sugar until peaks form. Fold in 2 teaspoons crème de menthe. Spread meringue over pie, and seal to edges. Freeze up to 24 hours. Just before serving, broil until top is golden.