food

The trick to making the creamiest potato gratin

You will absolutely love this delicious homemade corned beef and cabbage recipe that is cured, slow-cooked, and served up with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Corned beef and cabbage is a popular dish that is made for St. Paddy’s Day in America. It is a brined cut of brisket that is then boiled to tenderize and cooked with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. It’s an extremely flavorful comforting dish. Ingredients for this recipe: For the Corned Beef • 2 tablespoons peppercorns • 1 tablespoon allspice berries • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes • 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger • 1 teaspoon cloves • 5 bay leaves • 1 gallon water • 1 1/3 cup sea salt • 4 teaspoons #1 curing salt • 1 cup packed light brown sugar • ½ gallon ice • 5-6 pound brisket flat For the Vegetables • 1 tablespoon pickling spice • 1 head cabbage cored and sliced into wedges • 8-10 peeled and very thickly sliced carrots • 3-4 pounds of red or Yukon potatoes Serves 10 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 3 ½ hours Brining Time: 7 days Procedures: 1. Corned Beef: Place all of the spices minus the salt and brown sugar into a medium-size bowl and simply smash using a fork to help break it up to make a homemade pickling spice. You can also do this with a mortar and pestle if you have one. Set it aside. 2. Next add 1 gallon of water to a very large pot along with 4 tablespoons of pickling spice, salt, curing salt, and brown sugar and bring it to a boil to dissolve the salts and sugar. 3. Remove the pot from the heat and add the ice to help cool. 4. Once the liquid is completely cooled to at least room temperature add the brisket flat to the pot making sure it is completely submerged. Add plates or bowls to help keep it submerged. 5. Every 2 days move the brisket around to make sure every side is getting brine on it. 6. After 7 days remove the brisket and rinse it very well on all sides. 7. Place the brisket into a large pot and cover it with water by about 4 inches. 8. Add in 1 tablespoon of the pickling spice and then bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. 9. Next, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until very tender. 10. With about 30 minutes left in the cooking process add the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes to the pot and cover. You may need to move some things around to get it all to fit. 11. Once everything is done, slice the brisket against the grain and serve. Chef Notes: Make-Ahead: This recipe can be made up to 1 day ahead of time. Simply reheat before serving. How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of corned beef to a pot and heat over low heat until hot. If you need to add more water to the pot, feel free to do so. How to Store: Cover with or without the cooking liquid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cover without the cooking liquid and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating. Save some of the cooking liquid and refrigerate it so you can use it to reheat it. Corned beef has very high salt content, so it’s not looked at as a healthy recipe and some even consider it to be bad for you. You can also add a roughly chopped onion to the corned beef when cooking it with the vegetables. If the ice does not completely cool the mixture, you can flash cool the liquid in the freezer for 20-25 minutes. Sometimes the brisket is extremely long, feel free to slice it in half before cooking it. Watch the video to see how to properly slice a brisket.