Recipe(tried): New England Boiled Dinner (Corned Beef and Cabbage) a la Craig Claiborne

Beef and Cabbage

June, Even though I don't have an ounce of Irish in me, I like to make Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patircks Day. All of the Irish people who come over here say they have never heard of it. I think it must be an Irish American thing...just one of the meats available way back when and maybe pretty much a New England thing??!? This year I bought my corned beef at Table and Vine in Northampton. They had meat that had been corned (pickled) in Boston and the recipe had won prizes so I decided I had to try it. It was excellent! I have always used Craig Claiborne's recipe from The New York Times Cookbook. However, I always omitted some of the vegetables (rutabagas and parsnips)...just too yucky:-)!! Anyway this year I decided that it was time to grow up:-) I used all of the vegetables and boy, have I/we been missing out! Not only were the rutabagas and parsnips delicious but the rutabagas added a lovely pale yellow color to the assortment of vegetables. I have made some small changes to the cooking method and amounts but either way, the recipe seems to work fine.

New England Boiled Dinner (Corned Beef and Cabbage) a la Craig Claiborne Serves 12

5 pounds corned beef brisket(I used 3 1/4 lbs. since it is just for 2 of us with leftovers)
Water to cover
1/2 bay leaf (I used a whole bay leaf)
6 whole peppercorns (I used more like 10)
4 large rutabagas (yellow turnips), peeled and sliced (I used one, peeled, cut in half and sliced))
6 carrots, peeled and left whole (I used a couple of handsful of baby carrots)
6 parsnips, peeled and left whole (I used 2 and cut them into pieces about the size of the baby carrots)
12 small onions (I think I would use more if I was making this for 12 people)
6 medium potatoes, peeled (I used 2 potatoes, peeled and quartered)
1 head cabbage, cut in wedges (I used half of a head of cabbage, cut into 4 wedges)

1. Place the meat in a deep kettle, cover with water and add the bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring the water to a boil and skim off the fat. Cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer three hours. (After, the meat came to a boil, I put it, covered, in a 325 to 350 degree F oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours).

2. Add the vegetables and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes longer. (My brisket seemed to be done and my pot isn't large enough to hold it and the vegetables so I put the meat in another pan with some of the liquid. I coverd this and put it in a second oven at 250 degress F so it would stay hot while the vegetables cooked.)

3. Place the meat in the center of a platter and surround with vegetables. Accompany with horseradish and mustard pickle. (Don't ask me what horseradish and mustard pickle are. I just make a kind of horseradish sauce using mayonnaise, mustard and bottled horseradish. Maybe next year I'll try using fresh horseradish.)

One of the people who works at Table and Vine said that he just cooks his corned beef in a crockpot all day on low. When it is time to cook the vegetables, he takes some of the liquid out of the crockpot to use for cooking the vegetables and cooks them in a pot on top of the stove. This way he can leave the meat in the crockpot to keep warm. This man cooks 20 pounds of corned beef. We discussed how it tastes so good and is so bad for you. He said he likes to have left overs, as well as feeding friends. He said that for him, this is it. He eats it once a year and eats as much as he likes:-)!! We also, usually only eat it once a year...on St. Patricks day. At most, I fix it twice a year. The corned beef might not be so good for us but all those vegies must beP:-)!!