I'm not crazy about corned beef...so I need someone here who has a super recipe that....

.....they'd like to share with me.

Funny I like steamed cabbage but I'm not a big fan of the rest of the dinner. LOL, but I guess we're having it anyhow!!

Any tried & true recipe suggestions out there that you'd like to pass on???

Renee.. I had a butcher tell me many years ago it is all in how you cook it...he told me to use 2 cups of apple cider and 6 cups of water to simmer it in.. and to throw the spice packet away that normally comes with it and use a good handfull of pickleing spices...it is sooooo much better....if the water gets low in the simmer put back in 1part apple cider and 3 parts water...(this butcher was in Seattle and he supplied all the BIG restaurants with their corned beef.... I fix it a few times a year now!! also make sure you DON'T over cook the cabbage.. I almost dip mine thru the water! I like it a little crispy still!

Hi Renee,  I just follow the package directions, add the spices that come with it and add my own garlic and slow cook it for hours 'till tender.  Then cook the potatoes and cabbage in the same liquid as the beef.  - yummy.  My DH and I met on St. Patricks Day so this has become a tradition for us every year.

Great Glazed Corn Beef
from my Mother's recipe box

This is the only way I'll touch corned beef - it is great!!

5 lb. corned beef brisket
2 bay leaves
3 Tbsp. margarine
1 Tbsp. mustard
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. ketchup
3 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
carrots, cut into chunks
potatoes, diced
onions, quartered
head cabbage, quartered

Place meat in crockpot; trim to fit, if necessary. Cover with water; add seasoning packet included with brisket and bay leaves. Cook overnight on low 6 - 10 hrs. Drain off liquid; reserving liquid to cook veggies. In saucepan, heat margarine, mustard, brown sugar, ketchup, water and vinegar; stirring until well blended. Pour over meat. Cook on low 6 - 8 hrs. Fill stockpot, crockpot or pressure cooker with reserved liquid, carrots, potatoes, onions and cabbage. Cook veggies until tender. Serves 10.

The only debate in my house is whether we should cook it a long time, for falling-apart goodness when served hot, or cook it just until done, so it can be sliced thin for sandwiches.

But I've seen some amazingly tempting recipes, such as rinsing it very well, baking it covered, and then uncovering and baking a bit more with a brown sugar crust such as one might use for a ham.

The best way, of course, is to smoke cook it, long and slow, so it turns into pastrami!

I cook mine in beer! I put the spices in a tea ball or a cloth bag, and simmer, not boil! When the meatis done I cover it with foil and set it aside (oven on warm) then cook the cabbage carrots and potatoe sin the same pot.

So I've got one use the spice pack and one don't!!

Apple cider, you say AK....I read in one recipe they used beer!!

I know what you mean about the cabbage, I don't want it mushy either, that's how my mom used to cook it. Funny when I started cooking & it was on the crisp side it tasted SO much better.

Does everyone use just the new red potatoes....or is there a preference???

I like Red potatoes Renee...think it is all a personal preference!!! but I do know that fresh pickling spices are always better than whatever they put in that package*LOL* and I am not tight witht he spices I toss in a handfull!(about half a bottle!)

I have had it with beer and it is good... and BOC.. once it is chilled really well it slices really nice and thin for sandwiches!

I was given a recipe eons ago by using a large onion studded with cinnamon cloves in the liquid with the corned beef and cook until tender.  Then basting the beef with mustard, ketchup, brown sugar and honey until the beef is heated thru.  I do like AK's idea of using the apple cider.  I use that when making ribs.

Nancy G.

You gals are a lot of help...I like the idea of using the slow-cooker too. 

For some reason I never thought of reserving the liquid and cooking the veggies separately...and then I'll add the cabbage at the end!

Thanks!!

My mom never made a corned beef.  So it was new to me.  I much prefer the flavor when I don't put the pickling spices in at all and the baked flavor is so much better than boiled.

Does the apple cider compensate for the salty meat?  I would think it would, but not sure.

Theres a great recipe in the new Simple& Delicious that I'm going to use. Glazed is the only way to go.

One thing I do is soak it in cold water for several hours, changing it several times, before cooking it, Renee.

I like the apple cider recipe the best, but the beer is good, also. These both help to tenderize the meat some.

A big secret is to cook it very slowly. The crock pot on low would be great if it is big enough to hold the meat. Keep it submerged in enough liquid.

I also roast my potatoes and cabbage in the oven so that they have a different texture then when being boiled.

Enjoy your meal.

Ridge

I don't use the spice pack either. I rinse it real good, put it in the electric frying pan with ginger ale, put the lid on and let it simmer. I don't cover it with ginger ale, just enough for it to braise, adding more when needed.

rrdgrnr:

I also roast my potatoes and cabbage in the oven so that they have a different texture then when being boiled.

Ridge, can you explain to me roasting the cabbage in the oven.  Just the same as you do with potatoes???  Do you baste it at all...and do you put it in after the potatoes are almost cooked?? 

Ginger ale??  I'm getting the idea that maybe the sweetness of either ginger ale or apple cider help the flavoring somehow.  Dang I may have to cook 2 of these suckers on separate occasions! LOL