Corned Beef, my way.

 

There is nothing quite so wonderful as the scent of a lovely corned beef or three wafting through the air, as they cook slowly in the crock pot, or on top of the stove or in the oven.

And I know it's a little late to be posting Corned Beef recipes, but maybe someone out there is like me, and buys corned beef, cooks it and freezes it for meals at a later date.   And if you're like that, then read on.


We like corned beef here, but I do it a little differently than most.   I really don't care for the traditional cabbage, potatoes and carrots cooked in the corned beef liquid, nor does anyone else in our family.   Over the years I've also tried a lot of different recipes, trying to get the taste just right.  A few years ago, I succeeded, and now I make my corned beef the same way all the time.    Well, most of the time, well, nearly all the time.  At any rate, I do buy the commercial corned beef, although I'm tempted to try my hand at corning my own brisket some time in the future. 

I've actually made a couple of corned beef's this year.   I made one for the monthly potluck we attend, and then we ate one chopped up with some potatoes and onions and eggs for breakfast, and a snack.   But, I wanted some to put in the freezer, as it does freeze well, and it falls into my idea of always having something in the freezer that can be put on the table with a minimum of fuss and bother.   And let's face it, sometimes you just get a craving for corned beef, and how cool is it, you can have it on the table in an hour or so.   

To begin with, you need a corned beef, make it whatever size you like, place it in the pot with a bottle or two of dark beer, then add water to cover, sprinkle it with the pickling spices, then simmer it until tender.  In the crock pot this usually takes about 5-6 hours on high, or on top of the stop, about 2-3 hours.   Check it periodically.

Ready for the beer.

A nice vintage, adds some lovely flavour

Beer and Pickling spices added.

 When it's fork tender (and it's perfectly admissible to cut a slice off and taste it, just to see, you just have to be careful you don't taste test them til they're gone).    You can then put it aside to cool down before freezing them.

Cooling down for the freezer

Or you can do this...

Glazed and ready for the oven

Slather them with a mixture of brown sugar and yellow mustard, and throw them back in the oven for an hour or so, and serve with some more of the brown sugar/yellow mustard mixture.    To make the sauce just mix equal amounts of brown sugar and yellow mustard together.    Simple and totally awesome on corned beef.
And just want to say this, you can slather this on a nice piece of ham and bake it and then use the sauce to dip the ham into.    Might as well make it multi purpose, whenever possible.  

And if you have any left over, you can always make a nice corned beef hash for breakfast or dinner or ...
Chop up the corned beef, add some leftover cooked potatoes and some onions to a pan, brown them well and throw them on a plate.    

Next step, add the eggs on top

Just throw a couple of fried eggs on top, and you're good to go.

Hope your St. Paddy's day was a good one, and if you're like me and cooked a couple extra, now you have an idea on serving them.