Recipe: Spiced Beef

Spiced Beef
rec.food.recipes/Seet (2000)
Serves: 8

Spicing
6 pounds beef brisket
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup coarse salt

Cooking
1 celery stalk, coarse chopped
1 medium onion, quartered
2 medium carrots, sliced
3 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 pint stout

Blend the spicing ingredients together in a small bowl, making sure to break up the bay leaves and garlic. Stand the beef brisket in a large dish, and rub the spice mixture all over the meat.

Wrap the beef, and refrigerate for one week. Turn the brisket each day, rubbing the spice mixture at the bottom of the brisket back up to the top.

At the end of the week, rinse the beef brisket with water and tie it for roasting.

Place the celery, onion, and carrots on the bottom of a pot large enough to accommodate the brisket. Add the whole cloves, ground cloves, and allspice to the vegetables.

To cook the brisket, place the beef on top of the bed of vegetables and add enough water to the pot to cover the brisket. Bring the kettle to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 to 5 hours, or until the brisket is cooked through and tender. Add the half pint of stout to the kettle during the last hour of cooking.

Place the brisket on a meat platter and carve to serve warm.