The election season, here at home and south of the border, is almost over. It’s time to trade the bull for some honest-to-goodness homemade corned beef, honestly natural to bring out the goodness without additives.
My guess is that there are lots of families like ours, where for a variety of reasons – migraine headaches in mine – additives like nitrites and MSG are not welcome in our food.
Sure, the red colour of corned beef and pastrami is what makes it distinct, but that red colour is the result of sodium nitrite. Believe me, corned beef tastes just as good when it is the dull greyish colour of cooked beef, especially for family members who had not tasted corned beef for several decades until we found this recipe.
It’s easy to make, and we’re happy to share it. It makes a large batch, which we then slice and divide it into serving size packages, and freeze until needed.
We start with a whole eye of round, which generally weighs 3 to 4 kg (6 to 8 lbs.). Beef brisket also works well but may be slightly more expensive. Whichever you use, trim it of fat and sinew. If using a whole eye of round, cut it across into two equal size pieces, then split each piece lengthwise to expose more of the very solid meat to the brine.
To make the brine combine the following, bring to a boil, then cool to room temperature.
2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1⁄2 cup white vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorn
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 pinch ground cloves
When the brine is cool, add the pieces of meat, and four or five (or more!) cloves of garlic that have been cut in thirds. If you made the brine in a large stock pot, the meat will fit in nicely.
Make sure that all of the meat is covered by the brine, and refrigerate for 6 or 7 days, turning the meat every few days.
Remove the meat from the brine, rinse it off under cold water, and discard the brine.
Put the meat in a large pot, add enough water to come three-quarters up the side of the meat, and add the following:
1 teaspoon whole peppercorn
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole allspice
6 whole cloves
4 garlic cloves, sliced
Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 3 hours.
Cool completely before slicing, by hand or by machine, and make sure to slice thinly across the grain.
In case you’re wondering, this used to be made with very large grains of rock salt, also known as “corns” of salt, thus the name. Corned beef hash, corned beef on rye, and Reubens… enjoy!
This and previous columns may be viewed at www.mytwobits.ca. Comments welcome.
