The Scandinavian speciality - not for the faint-hearted, but it does provide a serious number of meals at the end of it all. If you buy the beef complete with a spice packet, may as well throw that it too - and don’t use lite beer….

9 lb. corned beef (brisket cut)
2 Tablespoons pickling spice (plus spice packet that comes with brisket)
10 whole peppercorns
7 whole cloves
3 bay leaves crumbled
8 parsley stems
2 cans of beer (not lite beer)
2 large onions, halved with skins
5 whole cloves garlic with skins
3 Tablespoons dry mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
10 large carrots, scraped and cut in large batons
10 large new potatoes, cut in quarters
1 large or 2 small cabbages, cut in quarters
Horseradish/Mustard Sauce

Cut the brisket in half, rinse it with water, and put in a heavy pot. Cover with cold water, bring to boil and cook 15 minutes. Discard this first cooking water.

Tie the next 5 ingredients and the spices in the packet that comes with brisket into a little square of cheesecloth with kitchen string. Cover the brisket with the beer and enough water to barely cover, and add the spice bag, onions, garlic, dry mustard and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, turning several times, until meat is quite tender.

If cooking the day before (which is preferable), cool and refrigerate overnight in the cooking water with the spice bag.

To finish, put the carrots, potatoes and cabbage in smaller pots and ladle some of the corned beef liquid into them. Cover and cook until tender. Reheat the meat, if necessary, and set on a carving board. Trim off the thick outside fat and cut in 3/4 inch slices.

Serve with a big bowl of vegetables and the horseradish and/or mustard sauces. (The meat will keep for a week in the refrigerator in its liquid.)

Posted in recipes, cooking, food by Lisa - January 22nd, 2007 |
Tags: beef, recipe, brisket

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