Recipe: German Spiced Beef with Root Vegetables (pressure cooker or stovetop, make ahead)

GERMAN SPICED BEEF WITH ROOT VEGETABLES

"Think of this as a tuned-up version of corned beef and cabbage. Adding root vegetables and additional spices makes this flavorful mixture of meats and vegetables suitable for company. We cooked this in a pressure cooker first and were happy with the perfumed broth. Not that this is anything new. M.F.K. Fisher was raving about pressure cookers in the '40s. We just found out about them again. Safer, made of stainless steel, we are in love with our Swiss Kuhn Rikon pressure cookers. Instead of taking 3 to 4 hours to make tough brisket tender, the entire meal was ready for the table in 1 1/4 hours. Cooked in one pan it was no trouble at all."

Cook time: 1 1/4 hours in a pressure cooker;
Or 3-4 hours simmered on the stovetop

Make this dish at your leisure, cover, and store in the refrigerator. Reheat it to boiling when ready to serve. It will keep up to 3 or 4 days, refrigerated.

1 (3- to 4- pound) corned beef brisket with spices and package juices
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, quartered
4 cloves, stuck into the onion quarters
6 juniper berries
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 small head red cabbage, cored and cut into 6 wedges
6 fingerling yellow firm potatoes
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and quartered
1 medium turnip, peeled and quartered
Horseradish Sauce (for serving, recipe follows)

Place the brisket along with juices and spice packet in a large Dutch oven. Do not rinse the meat. Add the water, the clove studded onion quarters, juniper berries, peppercorns, bay leaves, celery, and parsley.

Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Skim the foam from the surface. Close the lid. (If using a pressure cooker, bring the pressure up to the second red ring over high heat and cook for 1 hour, stabilizing the pressure by adjusting the heat downward as needed.) If you're cooking on the stovetop, cook covered until the meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the meat to cool. Re move the brisket to a cutting board and set it aside.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan. Remove broth as needed so that the pan is no more than two thirds full. Close the lid. (For a pressure cooker, bring the pressure up to the second red ring and cook for 5 minutes. Cool down before opening the lid.) Alternatively, cook the vegetables, covered, in boiling broth until tender, up to 40 minutes.

TO SERVE:
Cut the brisket across the grain into thin slices and arrange them down the middle of a warm platter. Using a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables from the pan and arrange them around the beef. Spoon a little broth over the meat and vegetables. Serve with horseradish sauce (see below). And don't forget that marvelous broth. We like to serve it as a separate course. It's that delicious. And we pray there's some left over for lunch the next day.

HOW TO MAKE HORSERADISH SAUCE:
So many things don't really require a recipe. Take this horseradish sauce, for example. Pick up some creamed-horseradish and stir it into equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream. Taste it and add more horseradish if you like the sauce hotter. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Easy, isn't it?

MENU SUGGESTION:
Hot Spiced Beef Broth
Black Bread and Sweet Butter
German Spiced Beef with Root Vegetables
Horseradish Sauce
Cole Slaw
Pickled Peaches
Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream

ALL THE TRIMMINGS:
Serve this homey meal family style.
- Preset the table with soup bowls, and spoon hot broth into each one. Pass the black bread and sweet butter. This does exactly what an hors d'oeuvre is supposed to do-it whets the diners' appetites for the hearty dinner to come.
- After the soup course, pass the soup bowls to the head of the table and remove them, then bring on that steaming platter of meat and vegetables. It's a meal-in-one that requires nothing more than some coleslaw from the deli and a side of pickled peaches from a can.
- Pick up a pot of mums from the store, light the candles, put on some soft music. This is a dinner that's relaxing for the cook and the guests.
- The German spice mixture goes with Beck's or another German beer. Or, try a German dry or semi-dry Riesling. We try to get Rieslings from the Mosel region with a low alcohol content so they don't compete with the food.

Makes 6-8 servings
Source: Stylish One-Dish Dinners by Linda West Eckhardt and Katherine West Defoyd