My plan this weekend was a (mostly) from-scratch Reuben. (Next time I will make my own sauerkraut, too...) The key ingredient here (other than the rye bread) was the corned beef. I had picked up a nice hunk of brisket at Blood Farm when I was out there with Stanley getting ingredients for the world's greatest hamburgers, so all that was left was to find the perfect recipe.
The obvious source for my recipe was Charcuterie, which has yet to lead me astray...
The first step is to make the pickling spice, which contains (from right to left... ignoring the pink salt, which comes in later) bay leaves, black peppercorns, crushed red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, ground ginger, cinnamon sticks, and ground mace. I didn't feel like spending $7 on a bottle of ground mace that I will never need again, so I substituted some fresh-grated nutmeg. The end result was delicious, so I have no regrets.
Bay leaves and cinnamon sticks are broken up, while coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and mustard seeds are toasted and then smashed to release the flavors...
Now that the pickling spice is ready, we can move on to the corning process. This combines kosher salt, pink (curing) salt, sugar, pickling spice, garlic, and a gallon of water. The mix is heated on a stove until all of the salt and sugar are dissolved, then allowed to chill before the beef is added.
The beef goes in, and five days later you're in business...
I refuse to boil meat, so I like to roast my corned beef in a low oven rather than boiling it. I coated it with the pickling spice that was supposed to go into the pot with the boiling water, then put the brisket into a 275°F oven for around 3 hours...
The result is a gorgeous, ready-to-slice, ridiculously delicious hunk of corned beef...
Given how easy this is, I don't envision myself buying store-corned beef in the future (barring emergency Reuben cravings). This tastes so great that I don't think I'd change a single thing next time. Awesome.
Will I Make This Again? Abso-freaking-lutely
Was it Worth the Work? Not too much work and a great result, so definitely a "YES!"
The obvious source for my recipe was Charcuterie, which has yet to lead me astray...
The first step is to make the pickling spice, which contains (from right to left... ignoring the pink salt, which comes in later) bay leaves, black peppercorns, crushed red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, ground ginger, cinnamon sticks, and ground mace. I didn't feel like spending $7 on a bottle of ground mace that I will never need again, so I substituted some fresh-grated nutmeg. The end result was delicious, so I have no regrets.
Bay leaves and cinnamon sticks are broken up, while coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and mustard seeds are toasted and then smashed to release the flavors...
Now that the pickling spice is ready, we can move on to the corning process. This combines kosher salt, pink (curing) salt, sugar, pickling spice, garlic, and a gallon of water. The mix is heated on a stove until all of the salt and sugar are dissolved, then allowed to chill before the beef is added.
The beef goes in, and five days later you're in business...
I refuse to boil meat, so I like to roast my corned beef in a low oven rather than boiling it. I coated it with the pickling spice that was supposed to go into the pot with the boiling water, then put the brisket into a 275°F oven for around 3 hours...
The result is a gorgeous, ready-to-slice, ridiculously delicious hunk of corned beef...
Given how easy this is, I don't envision myself buying store-corned beef in the future (barring emergency Reuben cravings). This tastes so great that I don't think I'd change a single thing next time. Awesome.Will I Make This Again? Abso-freaking-lutely
Was it Worth the Work? Not too much work and a great result, so definitely a "YES!"
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