Corned Beef

By John, 16 March, 2014
Description
Corned Beef

This is a main component of a New England-style St. Patrick's Day corned-beef-and-cabbage dinner, a New England Boiled Dinner, and the Plymouth Succotash, as well as Corned Beef Hash and some wonderful sandwiches.

This recipe is to cook and cool the beef to be used for hash or sandwiches.

You can start with corning the brisket yourself with the recipe in Salt Beef, where you will also find some interesting lore about this old favorite.

Yield
10 Servings
Preparation time
3 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients
5 lb Salt Beef
4 q Water
1⁄4 c Cider Vinegar
1 T Brown Sugar
Instructions
  1. Rinse excess brine and salt mixture from the beef.
  2. Bring the water to a simmer.
  3. Slide the beef into the water and simmer gently for 2-3 hours, until done.
  4. When finished, let the beef cool in the water completely. If this would take too long, or if the cooking-pot is too big for your refrigerator, transfer the beef to a smaller dish with enough of the cooking water to just cover and add some ice.
  5. After the beef has cooled completely, remove it from the cooking liquid and wrap tightly until ready to use.
Notes
You don't have to make your own salt beef, of course. You can buy corned beef in the supermarket and cook it the same way. But making your own offers some opportunity for creativity, and you know exactly what's in it!