Folks! St. Patty’s day is around the corner…have you got your brisket in your brine yet? Here’s a recipe (taken from p.231 of Long Way On A Little, for those of you who don’t own a copy yet!). I am still chipping away at the new manuscript, and anticipate returning to regularly scheduled Tuesday Posts and daily blogging by the end of May. Hope you are enjoying the re-posted archives!
Corned Beef Tongue or Brisket with Horseradish Cream and Grainy Mustard
2 quarts water
1 12-ounce bottle beer
1 1/2 cups salt
3 tablespoons pickling spices
5 bay leaves
1 cup granulated maple sugar, sucanat, or turbinado sugar (or just plain ‘ol white sugar)
Beef tongue or brisket (or both, in my case)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
6 whole allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 whole star anise
1 cup sour cream
4 teaspoons bottled horseradish, or more, to taste
Grainy mustard
Put the water, beer, salt, pickling spices, 3 bay leaves, and sugar into a a soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour this into a stainless-steel or other heatproof, nonreactive container and let it cool.
Add the meat, cover, refrigerate 7 days, turning every few days. (If you are reading this late, 5-6 days will be okay…but get going!!)
On the morning of St. Patrick’s day, drain the meat, and discard the brine. Set meat on bottom of a slow cooker. Add the onion, 2 bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns, and star anise. Completely cover with water (at least 1 quart) and turn on the heat to low. Bring slowly to a simmer and cook gently until the meat pierces easily with a fork (if you are using tongue, the skin should peel easily), about 8-10 hours.
Meanwhile, mix the horseradish with the sour cream and refrigerate.
Remove brisket and/or tongue from the slow cooker. If using tongue, allow it to cool enough to peel away the skin before slicing and serving .
Serve with horseradish cream and the grainy mustard as accompaniments.
This post was written by Shannon Hayes, whose blog, RadicalHomemakers.com and GrassfedCooking.com, is supported by the sale of her books, farm products and handcrafts. If you like the writing and want to support this creative work, please consider visiting the blog’s farm and book store.
To view Ula’s Greeting Cards and support Saoirse and Ula’s (Shannon and Bob’s kids) entrepreneurial ventures, click here.
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