Corned Beef and Cabbage (and Coconut Custard)

Yesterday was a busy one, and I didn't get everything I wanted to done. 

- pour candles
- bake cookies
- Dr's appointment around noon.
- trip  to P.A. Bowen farm to buy our month's supply of grass-fed/pastured meat.
- grocery store to finish necessary shopping
- start Corned Beef cooking
- (Michael) construct new cabinet for our new altar location
- ritual to sanctify new altar/tools
- eat dinner
- hold Imbolc observation.

...and then, get up early today and head up to Baltimore for a day of window shopping and then hanging out at a Starbucks while Michael attended a meeting at the Grove.

Um... yea.  We are crazy people with no sense of what we can actually accomplish.  And by 'we', I mostly mean 'I'.

No candles or cookies - because Saturdays are ALSO the day I take methotrexate and spend the morning feeling sick.  And also, no Imbolc celebration because by the time we finished eating, we were both tired and dozing and just not up for it.

Michael did get the cabinet set up though - if you'd like to see how the altar area looks, you can see it at The Cauldron Born.

Also - I am not in Baltimore.... I waved him good bye and am happily hanging out at home getting things ready for our slightly-late Imbolc tonight, and recovering from yesterday.

Now... our Imbolc dinner last night was lovely and made me giddy proud because we ... wait for it ... CORNED OUR OWN BEEF THIS WEEK.

Now - after you see what that involves, you won't be so impressed, because it was easy peasy.  While it was cooking last night, the house smelled like the most mouthwateringly wonderful deli you ever visited in your deli-dreams.  SO good. So doing this again.

How to Corn Your Own Beef without Salt Peter

(yep - corned beef is usually made with potassium nitrate - saltpeter, as in 'makes gun powder'.  It's why you don't want to eat too many standard cured foods, because they have adverse health consequences if eaten in large quantities.  And, it turns out, it isn't necessary if you do this at home.)

1 grass-fed beef brisket, about 2 1/2 pounds.  Much easier to work with if you cut this into halves.

In a medium pot, combine:

1 cup water
2 T whole peppercorns, cracked
2 T pickling spice (I used Spice House's pickling spice)
1 T juniper berries, cracked
1 T coriander seeds
8 bay leaves
1 T. dried thyme (or a few sprigs fresh)
4 cloves garlic, minced

Bring to a boil, then lower and let steep for about 5 minutes.   Turn into a large glass bowl and let cool a few more minutes.  Add:

6 cups water
3/4 cups sea salt
1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, or rapadura

Stir until the salt and sugar have melted.

Now you can do one of two things (we did #2 because we didn't have a large baggie handy):

1 - Put the brisket into a 2 gallon ziplock bag, add the brine and a few ice cubes (to rapidly cool down the brine).   Seal it up, put it in a bowl, and refrigerate.  Twice a day for the next three days, flip the bag over.

2 - Toss a few ice cubes into the brine in the bowl to cool it down.  Add  the brisket and weight it down with a small plate to keep the meat in the brine.  Cover the bowl and store in the refrigertor.  Twice a day, take it out, and flip the meat, weight it down again and put it back in the fridge.

The 2nd method is more labor intensive over the next few days, but I'm not even sure how you'd get that brine from bowl to baggie without a disastrous mess, so maybe it evens out!

Once it's brined for at least three days, you're ready to cook it!

To prepare the corned beef to cook:  remove the beef and set aside.  Dump the brine.  Then rinse the meat so it isn't too salty (don't worry so much about stuck on bits of seasonings).

Corned Beef and Cabbage

1 corned beef brisket, about 2 1/2 lbs
water
2 T pickling spice in a muslin bag
1 head cabbage - shredded, chopped or quartered as desired

Put corned beef into a pot, add water to cover, and tuck in a muslin bag of pickling spice.  Heat to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 3 hours.  Your house is going to smell amazing.

Remove beef from water and set aside without cutting.  Put the cabbage in the cooking water and simmer about 20-30 minutes, until tender.

Serve in a bowl - some cabbage, a few slices of corned beef, and a bit of broth.  Heavenly!

For dessert, we ... by 'we' I mean 'not me, but Michel' made some coconut custard while the corned beef was cooking.  It was a warm and soothing end to a very full day, reminding us of the returning sun (and a bit of summer tropical promise with the coconut).

Update:  Don't miss the delicious Reuben Cabbage Rolls we made with the leftover corned beef!

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