St Patrick’s Day is a great holiday to celebrate. The smell of steaming cabbage, well it’s not really that great a smell, but most of us have venting fans to suck it away.  Who remembers wearing green to school so you wouldn’t get pinched?  For decades I thought the strange stringy red meat we were told was corned beef was natural.  It is not, it is full of chemicals food dies and enhancers.  Beef Brisket is the cut used for both corned beef and pastrami, it is a tough muscle and not tender.  My recipe makes real corned beef that is tender, flaky and flavorful.  It is a bit red from the easy 2-4 days of brining in the refrigerator then oven cured.  After oven curing it can be sliced thin and served.  It keeps well in the refrigerator and a day or more later it can be boiled with cabbage and some of the left over brine.  The process takes a few days, but with very little effort. This recipe is Paleo, gluten-free and low carb.

The Brine with Spices

• 3-4 lbs. Grass-fed dry aged beef  Brisket
• 3 tablespoons unrefined sea salt
• 1 tablespoon white pepper corns if available
• 2 tablespoons black pepper corns
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dill seed
• 1/2 teaspoon whole clove
• 2-3 cups filter water

Combine the salt and peppers in spice mill.  I use one coffee grinder just for spices.  Grind to coarse, and put in large enough plastic bag for the meat and some filtered water.   Grind the remaining spices and add to bag.  Add the brisket, and work pressing the spices into the meat and coating evenly.  Let the meat rest 15 minutes to suck in the spices.  Place the meat bag and all in a dish where it will lay flat.  Add the water so that most the meat is covered.  Refrigerate turning the meat a couple of times a day for 2-4 days.   My dry aged Brisket came from Dave’s Meat Service in Modesto CA.(see my Farmstead page for info)

Oven curing or slow roasting the brisket

Pre-heat oven to 225 degrees.  Place the brisket on a roasting grid, and pour the brining liquid into the bottom, fill to about 1/2 way, so it won’t spill when moved.  Place any of the left over spices on top the brisket. Make a tent with foil or use a roasting rack and pan with tight-fitting lid. Roast for 5-6 hours.  Broil for char right under the broiler 15-20 minutes uncovered for browning if desired.  The brisket is cooked and ready, but slice very thin to serve.  The brisket can take an hour or more of boiling, which will make it even more tender.  A bit of the left over brine from the roasting pan enhances flavor.  The cabbage only needs 15 to 20 minutes in with the boiling meat.  Slice thin and serve with cabbage. Éirinn go Brách

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