You Don’t Have to Be Irish . . .

Corned beef is infinitely flexible, appealing to cooks of nearly all backgrounds and adapting gracefully to their whims. This corned beef recipe, from former Times Food Editor Ruth Reichl’s mother, is emphatically not Irish. It’s hard to say exactly what sort of corned beef you’d call it, though its sweet and sour flavors and combination of meat with fruit does seem decidedly Middle European.

Big deal. The essential thing is that it’s delicious. In fact, there are people in The Times Test Kitchen today who still swear that it is the best corned beef they’ve ever eaten.

MIRIAM REICHL’S BAKED CORNED BEEF

1 (3- to 4-pound) corned beef brisket

2-3 bay leaves

1 onion, chopped, or 1 tablespoon onion flakes

1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

Whole cloves

Syrup from 1 (1-pound 15-ounce) can spiced peaches

Cover corned beef with water, add bay leaves and onion and simmer, covered, until meat is very tender, about 3 to 4 hours.

Drain meat and remove all fat. Make paste of mustard and brown sugar and cover meat with paste. Insert as many whole cloves in meat as desired.

Bake at 325 degrees 1 hour, basting frequently with spiced peach syrup.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.