There’s no secret formula to preparing corned beef except this one caveat: buy the best. Unless you’re going to cure your own slab of brisket into a “corned” beef, buy from the expert butchers who do it up every year.
I could have gone to any one of the purveyors who brine their own beef like Pat’s Meat Market, Rosemont, The Farm Stand and Bisson’s ( 116 Meadow Rd., Topsham, 207-725-7215). Whole Foods also has several brands of commercial grade corned beef, and if you’re bent on paying up for it you might as well get it there at a few dollars more per pound. The cured brisket from Bisson’s was $6.99 per pound.
Since this is a work in progress, here is the uncooked corned beef (from Bisson’s) that I will make tomorrow
Since I was at Bisson’s last Saturday I picked up my cured beef there, which comes straight from their brining barrels. It’s available throughout the year well wrapped and ready in their meat case next to the bacon, hams and other smoked cuts of meat.
