One whole week of waiting is what I have endured since first plunking that 5 pound (Mine is too big. I would recommend 3 pound) beef brisket into a heavily seasoned salty and sweet brine. Valuable refrigerator shelf space devoted to the cause and I will soon know if these sacrifices of time and resources were well worth the investment.
It is St. Patrick's day after all and what better way to celebrate the fact that Ireland isn't overrun with snakes than to make the Irish-American corned beef that has been so closely associated with the day's festivities.
You can't drink beer all day long. Maybe you can but still, you should eat something.
Brine:
Fill large pot (the one you use to cook spaghetti) to the rivets with water.
Add 1 C of cider vinegar
4 tbs of pickling spice
4 whole cloves of garlic
2 C of salt
1 C of sugar
Bring to a simmer and stir until salt is dissolved. Let cool completely. Add brisket (caution: brine may overflow. Do this step in the sink so you don't make a huge mess.)
*Cool Trick! If you have enough salt in your brine, then a raw egg (in its shell) will float in it. Cool!
Weight down the meet with a zip lock bag filled with something heavy (water would probably work). I used a large dutch oven so I just flipped the lid upside down so the inverted handle kept the meat submerged. After one week, remove the meat from the brine. Check periodically throughout the week to make sure brisket is still submerged.
After removing the meat from the brine cook it in a clean pot by simmering in water for about 50 minutes per pound (for me, that's a little over 4 hours).
For the last hour of cooking, add cabbage (Cut out the core and cut the cabbage head into manageable chunks.) and red potatoes.
It's still cooking so I'll update this post with a photo when it's finished. If it tastes terrible I can delete this before you guys can get it made. I do have a week head start after all :D
Sláinte!
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