A Guide to Home Corning

The mention of corned beef and cabbage usually elicits groans from those who have only had the badly prepared kind: dry and fatty commercial corned beef with mushy vegetables in a turgid broth. The truth is, its virtues are many. It is flavorful, earthy fare, America’s answer to pot au feu. Everything for a hearty meal--meat, vegetables and starch--is simmered together in a flavorful broth.

In searching for the ultimate boiled dinner, I decided to corn the beef myself. Corning is a process of meat preservation that predates modern refrigeration. The meat is rubbed with salt or placed in a brine and set aside to cure. In the past, the salt had the coarse texture of wheat kernels, or what the British call “corn,” hence the name.

Traditionally, spices and herbs were added to the brine to give the meat more flavor. In today’s commercial corning process, spices are rarely used, so the meat tends to taste rather one-dimensional. Sodium nitrites, or saltpeter, are added to preserve the rosy color of the meat. Nitrites, however, toughen meat somewhat and give it a very coarse grain.

Corning meat at home is a simple process; it takes about 15 minutes to make the brine and three to six days of unattended curing time. In the following recipe, the brine is highly spiced with juniper berries, black peppercorns, allspice berries, bay leaf and thyme. It is also made with stout beer. The result is light-years away from commercially corned beef. The texture is finely grained and remarkably tender. The flavor is spectacular, at once complex and spicy.

There is a lightness to this corned beef because the beef is trimmed of all fat before cooking. It pairs beautifully with a traditional horseradish sauce.

NEW ENGLAND BOILED DINNER Homemade Brined Beef Water 1/4 cup stout beer 1 medium onion, peeled and stuck with 3 whole cloves 1 clove garlic 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 10 black peppercorns 3 juniper berries, crushed 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried 1 large bay leaf 1 pound small, new red potatoes or yellow Finnish potatoes, unpeeled 3/4 pound small beets, trimmed and scrubbed 1 3/4 pounds small white boiling onions or shallots or 1 pint medium pearl onions, peeled, root ends left intact 3/4 pound baby carrots, green tops trimmed to 1/2 inch, or large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch chunks 3/4 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick 3/4 pound savoy cabbage, cut into 1-inch wedges

Place Homemade Brined Beef in large casserole and add enough cold water to cover meat by 3 or 4 inches. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Transfer beef to platter and discard cooking liquid.

Add beer, clove-stuck onion, garlic, sugar, peppercorns, juniper berries, thyme and bay leaf to casserole. Pour in 5 quarts water and bring to boil over high heat. Boil briskly 5 minutes. Return beef to casserole and bring water to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until meat is very tender when pierced with fork, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

About 15 minutes before beef is done, add potatoes to casserole. If necessary, add enough water to cooking liquid to cover potatoes. When beef is done, transfer to plate and cover to keep warm. (Potatoes and cooking liquid remain in casserole.)

Place beets and enough warm water to cover by 2 inches in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until beets are fork-tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, add boiling onions to potatoes in casserole and simmer 5 minutes. Add carrots and parsnips and simmer 5 minutes longer, adding water from time to time to cover vegetables. Add cabbage and simmer until all vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove cabbage wedges with slotted spoon and arrange around border of large, warm platter. Repeat with other vegetables. Drain beets well and arrange on platter. Cover platter to keep warm.

Return beef to casserole and simmer until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer beef to cutting board, thinly slice and arrange in center of platter. Spoon several tablespoons cooking broth over meat and vegetables and serve. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 425 calories; 1,269 mg sodium; 104 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 23 grams protein; 2.71 grams fiber.

Homemade Brined Beef 3 1/2 quarts water 1 quart stout 2 1/4 cups dark-brown sugar, packed 1 1/2 cups coarse (kosher) salt 15 juniper berries, crushed 15 black peppercorns, crushed 5 allspice berries 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried 1 large or 2 small bay leaves 2 1/2 pounds trimmed beef brisket

Combine 3 1/2 quarts water with stout, brown sugar, salt, juniper berries, peppercorns, allspice berries, thyme and bay leaf in large non-reactive flame-proof casserole. Bring to boil over medium heat and boil 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Add beef to brine and place plate on top to keep meat submerged. Cover casserole and refrigerate at least 4 days and up to 1 week. Before cooking, rinse meat under cool water to remove some of salt. Discard brine. Use as directed above.