Wednesday, March 16, 2011

How do you make your Corned beef?


Okay this is part rant and part how I make my Corned Beef!


Those who follow me on "FB" know which company I work for. I work for a prominent grocer in the STL area, we are union and I recently transferred to a store closer to home. So I am low in seniority and get the jobs and shifts no one wants.

Subsequently, there are guys who are cooking that I question there abilities...

So I posed a question this evening on "FB", "do you remove all the fat off your Corned Beef; before or after cooking, or not at all?"

I posed this question cause the cook there this evening was trimming all fat off the corned beef to hold for serving...
IMHO, this would make the meat suseptable to drying out?

About half the people who responded to my question said they would leave the fat on to cook it and remove to eat. While the other half resoundly said, "this was where the flavor was at and they would leave it on."

I believe that to eat healthier, the fat needs to be removed as much as possible. With that being said, this is corned beef, to be served on St. Patty's Day. This is a once a year meal which should be packed with as much flavor as possible.

Fat is where the flavor is!

I myself would prepare the corned beef with the fat and the serve it with the fat...

Leaving it upto the person eating it, to remove that which they did not want.

Especially if I were cutting it to hold for up to two hours for the person coming up to buy it on a whim...

Why would I do this?

One as I have stated in order to help it keep moist. Secondly, for the flavor aspect...

Now here to how I prepare my Corned Beef & Cabbage meal, on St. Patty's Day:

I prefer the flat cut Corned Beef...
I use a large roasting pan...
Line it with heavy aluminum foil...
Cut up Red Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions, making a bed to lay my corned beef on it...
The only seasoning I use is the seasoning packet that comes with the corned beef...
Add water to cover the vegetables and place 3-4 beef bullion cubes in it...
Add a few more vegetables to cover the meat...
Seal the roaster with more aluminum foil...
Bake in a 350 degree oven, half hour for each pound of meat...
Remove from oven...
Place corned beef on serving platter...
Scoop out all the cooked vegetables...
Slice Corned Beef in thin slices...
Drizzle au jus over the mCorned Beef and resereve the rest to be served on the side!


I never cook my Cabbage with the Corned Beef, instead, I steam it, to keep it a vibrant green with texture. (I can not stand mushy cabbage!)


Enjoy!!!!!!!

What ever is left over after the meal, I save for the morning after to make a
scrambled Corned Beef Scramble to be served with Biscuits and Gravy....