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.
As for cooking, do it low and slow. You can also roast the corned beef as you would in pot roasting or braising. I like the boiling method so I can also cook the final fillip of vegetables in the stock.
Put the beef into a large stock pot; bring to the simmer then add the aromatics: a large, unpeeled onion studded with two cloves: a large carrot that’s been washed but not scraped and a stalk or two of celery with leaves. You can add a bouquet garni wrapped in cheesecloth but the meat is so well flavored already, it’s an optional step. Bring it back to the simmer, cover the pot and let it rip very gently for at least 3 hours, depending on the size of the meat. It’s done when the beef is truly fork tender. Remove the aromatics and refresh with the fresh vegetables.
About 30 minutes before the beef is done add the vegetables. You can also remove the fully cooked brisket and then add the vegetables, keeping the beef warm, well covered, or put into the oven with a coating of brown sugar and mustard to glaze the beef.
Biscuits in the skillet, nearly touching
I add small yellow potatoes, peeled, left whole; some white boiling onions, carrots, scraped and cut into 2 inch chunks, cabbage, quartered, rutabagas, and parsnips peeled and cut into large pieces. Add the root vegetables first, giving them a 5-minute head start before adding the cabbage. And that’s it.
I like to serve the beef with great biscuits (you might also add dumplings to the pot instead). I made these the other night to accompany a dinner of baked beans and ham. They’re easy, nearly foolproof and rise right up into the flakiest you can get.
Biscuits part of my menu for Sunday ham and baked-bean dinner
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (see Note)
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 ounces (1/4 cup) freshly rendered lard (available at Rosemont), well chilled
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup farm-fresh buttermilk (Smiling Hill or Balfour Farm)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Put the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the baking powder and salt. Mix together with a whisk until well combined or you can put the dry ingredients through a sifter.
- Add the lard, cut into medium small pieces and with a pastry blender work the mixture until you get small little knobs of flour and lard about the size of peas.
- Make a well in the center and add the milk and buttermilk, stirring gently with a fork until the dough comes together. It will be fairly wet. Dump onto a well-floured board and knead very gently for about 1 to 2 minutes until it’s a nice mass of solid dough. Gently tap the dough to about 3/4 to 1-inch thickness. Using a 2 to 3-inch biscuit cutter to stamp out the biscuits, flouring the cutter well all over before use.
- Gently pat together your scraps and continue cutting the biscuits. You should get about 8 biscuits using a 2-inch cutter.
- Put into a 9-inch cast iron skillet, biscuits nearly touching, and bake until gently browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and pour melted butter over the biscuits. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can make your own baking powder by using the locally available Bakewell Cream, mixing in a 2-to-1 ratio of Bakewell Cream to baking soda
