Brisket is a pretty unforgiving piece of meat that needs to be slow roasted for its connective muscle tissue to break down into delightful pleasures of eating. If you cook it too fast on high heat, the meat gets tough. If you cook it too slow on high heat, the meat is still tough. But, if you don't want to bother with basting the meat every 40-50 minutes while it roasts in the oven there is another modern convenience called the slow cooker; or as it says on my unit...a Crockpot. I am using Steamy Kitchen's recipe process for this because it looks really easy to do. One of my beer friends advised against using a Guinness dark beer so I am using Pike's Naughty Nelly artisan ale instead. No, I still don't drink beer. I don't care for bitter in my beverages, and while I love the smell of fermenting hops (smells like bread, go figure) it's just not for me. Beer is great in recipes though, like beer can chicken, steamed with clams or mussels, or in chocolate stout cupcakes.
I don't have a pot that is both stovetop and oven safe that can accommodate this many ingredients (brisket + beer + vegetables), so I chose to slow cook it instead of roasting the meat in the oven for 2-3 hours. I've read other people's recipes, the ones that call for 5-7 pounds of meat. Well, that's about a half pound of meat per person. Quite a lot of meat, IMHO.
This recipe is divided into three parts. The first is the brisket and the second is the vegetables. These should be cooked separately so that the vegetables don't disintegrate over the long cooking time for the beef. The third is the pickling spice ratio, which comes from Leita's Culinaria, minus the ground mace which slipped the mind. I put all the spices in a glass jar, shook it a bit, then took out a random tablespoon for the brisket.
Ingredients, pt 1
1 lb beef brisket
2 bottles of ale or dark beer
4 large garlic cloves, crushed and hard edge removed
2 small cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp pickling spice
up to 1 qt organic beef broth
Ingredients, pt 2
One medium green cabbage, cut into eighths or wedges, stem removed
4-5 carrots, cut into thick slices
3 medium red potatoes, cut into wedges
1 celery rib, sliced
bacon lard
2 c. brisket broth
Ingredients, pt 3
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons allspice berries
2 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces
2 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger
Directions
Pt 1 - The brisket. In a stockpot or dutch oven (if roasting via oven instead of crockpot), combine brown sugar and beer. Wash and pat dry the brisket before adding it to the pot. Bring the pot up to a boil. Remove from heat and add all the pot's ingredients to a crockpot. Set the slow cooker on "low" for 8 hours.
Pt 2 - The vegetables. In another pot, melt bacon lard over medium heat. Swirl it around so that the lard evenly coats the bottom of the pan. Cut the cabbage into 8 wedges and brown the sides. Add the potatoes, carrots, and two cups of the brisket broth. Cook covered for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cabbage and set aside. Continue cooking the carrots and potatoes until they are fork tender, another 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat and serve beside slices of corned beef.
Pt 3 - The pickling spices. Combine all spices in a glass jar and shake it up a bit. Use as needed.
Note: There is no salt, per se, in this recipe. There is sodium, however, in the beef broth and the bacon lard; but I think the meat itself may need salt after-the-fact.
[ Update 4/4/2012: This recipe made an awful corned beef and an okay beef stew. Do not use! ]
