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March 15, 2007

Recipes, starting with Dijon-Glazed Corned Beef with Cabbage & Potatoes

Later: Here's how it came out at my house

This is the version I'm making this weekend. (I may fiddle with it, but I'm starting here.) It's from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Dijon-Glazed Corned Beef with Cabbage & Potatoes

1 (3 1/2- to 4-lb.) boneless corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsps. whole black peppercorns
2 cups water
6 tbls. butter
1 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts
1/2 cup prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 head green cabbage, cored, cut into 6 wedges (1 to 1 1/2 lbs.)
1 1/2 lbs. small red-skinned potatoes, cut in half

Glaze:
2 tbls. orange marmalade
2 tsps. Dijon-style mustard

Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place corned beef brisket in roasting pan; sprinkle garlic, contents of seasoning packet and peppercorns around and over brisket.

Add water; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Braise in upper third of 350-degree oven 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until brisket is fork-tender.

Meanwhile, place butter, green onions, horseradish, ground pepper and salt in glass measuring cup. Microwave on High 1 to 2 minutes or until butter melts; mix well.

Place cabbage wedges on half of baking sheet with sides and potatoes on other half. Drizzle horseradish-butter mixture over vegetables, turning cabbage and tossing potatoes to coat.

Cover with aluminum foil. Roast in lower third of 350-degree oven with brisket 55 minutes. Uncover vegetables; continue roasting 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender and begin to brown.

Combine glaze ingredients in small bowl. Remove cooked brisket from roasting pan; place on rack in broiler pan so surface of brisket is 3 to 4 inches from heat.

Brush glaze over brisket; broil 2 to 3 minutes or until glaze is bubbly and beginning to brown.

Carve brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with cabbage and potatoes.

Tip: If seasoning packet is not included with corned beef brisket, substitute 1ø teaspoons pickling spice.

Serves 6 to 8.

County Clare's Guinness Beef Barley Soup calls for six cups of beef stock and a cup or more of Guiness stout. My people would have added water, too. They liked their stew thin.

Alternate: Donahue Irish Stew. More Guinness, and red wine, too, with lamb or beef. At the same link, Oatmeal Apple Crumble With Irish Whiskey Cream Sauce and simple Irish Soda Bread (no raisins, no seeds).

Extremely tempting: Flaky Cheddar Scones at the Freep. "These savory scones get their tenderness and tang from plain yogurt rather than buttermilk -- a plus for cooks who don't often have buttermilk on hand."

And a few more under a great headline: Old Irish-nouveau fusion. In my house, celery salt was the only seasoning, so this cuisine has come a long way. On that link, Irish Parsnip And Apple Soup, Cider-Braised Chicken And Cabbage, Irish Cream Scones With Lemon Curd.

Here's how to make Home Cook recipe: Michael's Favorite Soda Bread. He calls the caraway "optional but recommended." I'd stay away from it. Why ruin a perfectly good raisin bread?

The Globe offers Boiled dinner, as unadorned as it sounds: Corned beef and root vegetables on top of the stove. No seasoning but a bay leaf and peppercorns, unless you count the maple syrup, mustard and and horseradish. It's pretty hardcore -- hope you love plain carrots.

There are also four variations on soda bread.

If you have leftovers, here you'll learn how to make a couple of sandwiches, corned beef and cabbage dip corned beef and cabbage salad, and a simple crockpot corned beef and cabbage.

Later...The comments on the Simply Recipes blog's New England Boiled Dinner Recipe include variations and enhancements. I especially like the tales of the origin of the dish, such as,

The story around the table this past weekend related to me was that the Irish usually had ham not corn beef. the cabbage was cooked over the ham to hide it from the landlords. (Who has money for ham?) The cabbage would be quite odorific and the ham was not found. The corn beef is a american thing, partly related to lack of refrigeration but also the mixing of culture: Irish, British, Polish, German, and Jewish all enjoy this recipe, so does the Ukrainian part of my family as well as my Russian friends. Ahhh America.

The Irish Soda Bread Recipe there has photos at every step.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 2:00 AM | Permalink