Saint Patrick’s Day or as we like to call it Jameson Appreciation Day, has long been celebrated in the “right” household. My mother’s grandmother was a first generation Irish immigrant and I have an Irish flag tattooed on my left shoulder. And while I prefer bourbon to Irish whiskey, I can drink some Jameson and Bushmills with no issue at all. Yes, we do the Americanized version of St. Paddy’s Day by drinking Guinness, Smithwicks and whiskey while cooking corned beef, potatoes and cabbage. The oldest daughter will make some homemade soda bread and if the gathering is larger than normal I will also make an Irish stew that contains lamb, a bottle of Guinness, carrots, potatoes and pearl onions. I’m trying to get the granddaughters into the Irish stew thing but they think it’s a wee bit gamey.
Yes. I know.
Residents of Ireland don’t really consume much corned beef and it’s only on their menus for tourist reasons but that doesn’t mean it isn’t Irish in origin. Quite the opposite in fact. While originating in Great Britain, the bloody English started the “corning” or curing process of meat for long term storage and shipping capability and the rest of Great Britain joined along. There are some scholars that think the popularity of corned beef actually worsened the effect of the Irish Potato Famine, since much of the land that had previously been used to grow crops was turned into pasture land for the grazing cows due to the high demand of corned beef in Great Britain as well as during the Atlantic Trade era (Fucking Americans, man!) thus reducing crop land that could have been used for other crops.
The original version of corned beef was cured with just “corns” of salt, think of a larger grain of salt, but without the use of nitrates and the resulting product was a rather off putting shade of grey. Goddamn Brits will eat anything regardless of appearance. Nitrates were later added to give the meat a nice but completely fucking unnatural shade of pink. It’s still pink to this day! Yay nitrates. Corned meats are popular all over. The Canadians have “Montreal Smoked Meat” which I’ve had and completely enjoyed – serve alongside poutine! – the Jewish folks adapted it to become pastrami (Oh God! Langer’s Deli pastrami is life altering) and the Brits still dabble with their grey version.
One final note about the origins, the Irish still associate corned beef with peasant food and don’t regularly consume it. This was odd because during the hey day of corned beef production many in Ireland couldn’t afford it due to high demand oversees. Uh, sure.
What I’m trying to say here is let’s make some goddamn corned beef.
I’m going to give you a couple of options here. The traditional option as well as my very own made up option that will change any negative opinions about corned beef to a very positive one.
Around St. Patrick’s Day the supermarkets start running their corned beef specials. I remember seeing packages of corned beef going for around .59 cents per pound. It’s now around 1.99 per pound when on sale and I usually stock up. Three at least. A couple for the gathering and always one extra for homemade corned beef hash. This is because my corned beef hash is a motherfucking force of nature. Some pre-cooked potatoes, some corned beef, some onion, garlic, red bell pepper, salt, pepper, thyme and a couple of over easy eggs on top?
Fuck me, I just made myself hungry again.
Corned beef comes in two cuts, both from the whole brisket. The “flat” is the more lean part of the brisket while the “point” is the fattier end of the brisket.
Both are solid choices but the point is a little fattier thus imparting more flavor. Actually these days it’s more of a challenge finding the “flat” cut due to the rising popularity of brisket in general. You know, Texas style brisket or Jewish style brisket. I do love me some motherfucking brisket.
Here’s a couple of slabs of packaged corned beef right here, both of these are “point” cuts.
The traditional preparation may very well be the easiest fucking meal you will ever make. Open the bag, put the meat in a dutch oven on your stove top, cover the meat with enough water to fully cover, add the contents of the provided seasoning packet, put on a lid that is slightly askew and cook on a low simmer for about 3 1/2 hours. About 25 minutes before meal time add in your cut up potatoes and cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove the cooked meat from the pot, cover with foil, turn off the heat and toss in some cabbage cut into wedges. Let the cabbage sit in the meaty juices for about 3-5 minutes, remove all and serve everything up. Always cut against the meat grain so the meat doesn’t have a tough chew or just falls apart. I like to serve mine with a grainy mustard and/or horseradish. I will actually create some menu items just so I can use horseradish. It’s a gift from the gods.
When prepared the traditional way here’s what it looks like while simmering.
A vastly superior version gets a nice rub of whole grain mustard, sprinkle the spice blend on top, wrap tightly in foil and cook on 300 for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
I try to use a course grainy mustard to get as much flavor around the meat as possible. Here’s what I’ve currently got on hand.
The reason I do both versions is because you need the juices from the boiled version to cook your potatoes and cabbage in. The roasted version is vastly superior meat but you have to have the boiled potatoes, there’s just no other way around it.
I guess I didn’t really give a recipe did ? Hell, let’s try:
1 packaged corned beef for every three people.
1 potato per person, peeled and quartered.
1 head of cabbage – trust me it’s more than enough
Ask a guest to make soda bread (I don’t have my daughters recipe)
1 6-pack of Guinness per person
1 6-pack of Smithwick’s per person
1 bottle of Jameson
Download the Uber app for your ride home.
Even my angel fish Wanda enjoys St. Paddy’s day!
Shit! I already told you how to make both versions didn’t I? Oh I almost forgot, rinse the corned beef that you will be coating with mustard and roasting, it is pretty goddamn salty in the oven. The boiled version just requires that you open the bag and dump everything in a pot.
Hmm? What else?
Nothing really. Make this, drink and be safe out there. It will be one of the easiest meals you’ve ever made.
céad míle fáilte!
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I do a really easy slow cooker version. I quarter a couple large onions and a handful of carrots and celery and use them as a platform for the corned beef. Rub it with mustard and your spices, set it on the veg bed, and pour a couple beers in until it just touches the bottom of the meat. Cook it on low until it’s tender. The bed works nice because it keeps it from just boiling and let’s it actually roast for a while.
That’s a great idea. The boiling on the stove top method just takes away so much of the essential flavors.
Yeah, that’s why I’m not a big fan of many slow cooker recipes, but this gets around that monotonous, boiled to death taste. I use a similar method when I make Italian Beef, although that one involves a lot of stove-top work and then transferring to the crock pot.
When you make Irish stew, do you brown your meat? I know traditional recipes eschew it, but I really hate braising or stewing without browning first. I’ve made it the traditional way but to me, it’s almost like voluntarily giving up flavor. Also, please send me all of your SIL’s stout. If you send it now it should be here by next week in time for the end of my two month beer abstention.
Yes I do. The key to starting any good stew is browning the meat and then deglazing the pan with wine, beer or stock. Those crispy little browned bits are the equivalent to adding bacon, a jump start to the savoryness.
I enjoy Sunday Gravy. It’s too bad my girlfriend has me on a diet with her right now.
It’s true, there aren’t a lot of vegan meals here.
Go high caloric or go home, I always say.
Relevant to Blax’s dilemma
https://youtu.be/V_4yfQyWH4Y
I’d like to host a request line about songs inspired by first world problems (I eat too much rich, plentifully-available, delicious food!).
I believe I will sit down with my guitar and compose the “Still Aint Got No Edit Button Blues” to contribute to your playlist.
Did the corned beef and cabbage here as well. My elderly redneck almost totally not Irish family seemed to like it. And if they didn’t, fuck ’em.
The beer in the picture was made by my son in law who owns a beer supply shop in Torrance. It was about an 8.5 ABV with some coffee and chocolate notes.
Probably the best stout he has ever made.
I have a electric pressure cooker recipe for corned beef that I have tinkered with but it’s not quite perfect. I will be trying your roasted version before the weather gets too hot.
Also, I transplanted cabbage starts into big pots today. WOOOO!
* an electric…
The best thing about the roast version is it doesn’t boil the flavors out and it cuts and eats like a regular brisket with the melting fat thing and the subtle mustard undertones.
I can’t recommend the horseradish enough for this dish.
Sounds amazing and I too love horseradish … and mustard.
I like the one 6-pack per person. Depending on whether you have actual Irish at your dinner, this may not be enough.
BTW, kickass time yesterday on the pub crawl!
Agreed. That was fun as fuck.
It appears I should have only brought a 4-pack for myself…
PINK BETTER THAN GREY?!? AWWW!!
– THE BEN