Do you know what corned beef is? Also known as cured beef brisket, corned beef is similar to smoked meat but without any smoking. Mind you, I'm not talking about the canned corned beef that has fed armies of people... no, no, I'm talking about homemade corned beef!
Ingredients
FOR THE BRINE
A piece or whole piece of beef brisket
1 stout beer (Guinness style)
4 liters of water
100g (1/3 cup) pickling spices
2 cups (500g) salt
1/2 cup (125g) sugar
5 c. (25g) Cure # 1 pink salt
FOR COOKING
optional: a stout beer (Guinness style)
enough to cover with water
100g (1/3 cup) pickling spices
FOR THE POTÉE
1 cabbage in quarters
3-4 carrots
1-2 pounds of potatoes
Method
This is a recipe similar to the corned beef found in Gaspé and New Brunswick, with a little Irish touch. I discovered corned beef during a trip to the United States because it is not at all common in Quebec. It was love at first sight for me! Served in a hotpot with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots, this is one of my favorite comfort food in winter. Served shredded the next morning with hash browns and an egg (corned beef hash), one of my favorite breakfasts, and as a sandwich with sauerkraut for lunch, the total. Very versatile once prepared, corned beef is sure to please your family, St-Patrick or not!
Usually, in the US and the Maritimes, people buy their ready-made corned beef from the grocery store. Since we don't find it with us, and maybe with you, I decided to do it from A to Z! Hope this will make you want to give it a go too.
Note on pink salt: Be careful, you cannot substitute Cure # 1 pink salt with Himalayan salt, since pink salt is in fact a nitrite salt for curing, smoking, or preserving. You can also omit or substitute with celery powder, which contains natural nitrates but the result could be more uneven. In Quebec, you can find pink salt on Amazon.ca or at the Culinary Guild. I generally try to stay away from all these conservatives. However, since the risks of botulism are mentioned, I decided to make the Corned Beef Recipe & Technique according to the recommended directions rather than the natural version. By reading a lot on the subject, we also mention that the added nitrites seem equivalent to the natural nitrites contained in celery powder ... It's up to you!
