Since I hate the prepackaged corned beef available in in U.S. stores, I've always made my own corned beef. Bœuf cuit looks like something I'm going to have to learn to do.
I'm one of those who cooks by the handful or pinch. That's the way I learned from my dad, the chef.
As an aside, I once had a Japanese landlady who occasionally liked to cook for her tenants. She cooked the same way. If you asked her for her recipe, it was all in her head. No defined quantitues, but she would invite you to come down and watch her the next time she made it.
The only things I measure exactly when I make corned beef are the sea salt and the pink curing salt (not to be confused with the pink Peruvian salt). These are essential for proper curing. Everything else is mostly for flavor.
Here is the basic recipe with quantities as best I can reconstruct.
1 4/5 lb beef brisket.
3 1/2 cups of water.
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup sea salt
2 tbsp pink curing salt.
4-6 bay leaves depending on how strong they smell
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp minced garlic
I use about 1/2 cup store bought pickling spice, but occasionally add a few whole cloves. You can make your own pickling spice mix, but I find the store bought stuff adequate.
Mix everything but the beef and wine together and bring to a boil for a few minutes until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain and add white wine. I use whatever is left in the bottle, or whatever I'm in the mood for, sometimes dry, sometimes a good sweet German wine.
Put the beef and the liquid into a large zip-lock bag and put in the fridge for a week to 10 days. I turn it first thing in the morning and just after dinner.
To cook, put pickling liquid into a Dutch oven, cover the beef the rest of the way with water and add:
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 small onion, quartered.
I've been known to toss in a few Yukon Gold potatoes, or other left over fresh veggies as a kind of an 'oh, why not?'
I cook it on a slow simmer until a fork stuck into it offers no resistance, (2-3 hours) then add fresh cabbage and cook until that's tender.
Play with the recipe, or look a different one up online.
So Brillat-Savarin was a breast man! I am always learning from you, Jamie.
Also, I very much miss that butcher shop.
Lol I just started reading bits of Physiologie du goût and it’s nothing like what I thought it was!
I've got a copy of it around here somewhere...
And you, of course.
I miss you too.
Damn! I just ate and now I'm hungry again.
Since I hate the prepackaged corned beef available in in U.S. stores, I've always made my own corned beef. Bœuf cuit looks like something I'm going to have to learn to do.
Thank you. Fun.
Do share your recipe, please! We haven’t got it in shops in Finland.
I'm one of those who cooks by the handful or pinch. That's the way I learned from my dad, the chef.
As an aside, I once had a Japanese landlady who occasionally liked to cook for her tenants. She cooked the same way. If you asked her for her recipe, it was all in her head. No defined quantitues, but she would invite you to come down and watch her the next time she made it.
The only things I measure exactly when I make corned beef are the sea salt and the pink curing salt (not to be confused with the pink Peruvian salt). These are essential for proper curing. Everything else is mostly for flavor.
Here is the basic recipe with quantities as best I can reconstruct.
1 4/5 lb beef brisket.
3 1/2 cups of water.
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup sea salt
2 tbsp pink curing salt.
4-6 bay leaves depending on how strong they smell
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp minced garlic
I use about 1/2 cup store bought pickling spice, but occasionally add a few whole cloves. You can make your own pickling spice mix, but I find the store bought stuff adequate.
Mix everything but the beef and wine together and bring to a boil for a few minutes until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain and add white wine. I use whatever is left in the bottle, or whatever I'm in the mood for, sometimes dry, sometimes a good sweet German wine.
Put the beef and the liquid into a large zip-lock bag and put in the fridge for a week to 10 days. I turn it first thing in the morning and just after dinner.
To cook, put pickling liquid into a Dutch oven, cover the beef the rest of the way with water and add:
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 small onion, quartered.
I've been known to toss in a few Yukon Gold potatoes, or other left over fresh veggies as a kind of an 'oh, why not?'
I cook it on a slow simmer until a fork stuck into it offers no resistance, (2-3 hours) then add fresh cabbage and cook until that's tender.
Play with the recipe, or look a different one up online.
Have fun.
Amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe, Thomas M.
Thank you again Jamie!
A recipe would be much appreciated, as there’s nothing similar in this part of the world where I live!