1 two to three pound corned beef brisket
2 garlic cloves
2 medium shallots, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons pickling spices (or use the spices that come in the sachet w/the corned beef brisket)
3 12-oz bottles of ESB, Irish or scotch ale (Fullers ESB, Moylan's Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, Smithwick's are examples, or use whatever beer you like. Just don't use a weak light lager in this recipe. That's a party foul.)
6 carrots peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
6 yukon gold or red potatoes cut into 2 inch chunks (I like using small boiler potatoes)
1 medium head of cabbage, cored and cut into 4 separate wedges
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
To begin, one of those beers is for you. So crack it open and start drinking. You can't make this dish without sipping a beer. Skip this first step and you may as well forget about it and order a pizza.
Put the corned beef into a large roasting pan or oven-proof dutch oven with a lid. Add the garlic, shallots, pickling spice, and two beers. Cover and place in the oven. Braise this for 2 1/2 hours, turning the meat over half-way through. At the end of 2 1/2 hours, remove the pot from the oven and add the carrots and potatoes. Cover again and place back in the oven for an additional 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven once again, this time adding the 4 wedges of cabbage. Put it back in the oven for another 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes have passed, remove the pot from the oven and check the brisket for doneness. You should be able to stick a fork in and out of the roast easily. If it needs more time, give it another 30 minutes in the oven. Remove the roast from the pot, place on a cutting board, cover with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
15 minutes? That's enough time to drink another beer. Don't mind if I do. And while I'm doing that, I like to make a sauce from the remaining beer in the pot. To do this, strain the beer into a separate sauce pan, bring it to a boil over medium heat, add a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper, and stir. When it starts to foam, take it off the heat.
Carve the roast, place on a large serving platter, surround the sliced brisket with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Cover the vegetables with the beer reduction and garnish with parsley.
Crack open another beer. Eat. Life is good.
NOTE: This is best done in the oven, but if you're pressed for time, it can be braised on the stove top on low heat in as little as 2 1/2 hours. Add the potatoes and carrots after 90 minutes, the cabbage 30 minutes after that, then pull it from the heat when 2 1/2 hours have elapsed.
IPA Mustard
1 12-ounce bottle of IPA (Stone IPA, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, or Green Flash IPA are my favorites)
2 cups whole mustard seeds
1 cup sherry vinegar (or cider vinegar if you can't find sherry)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Mix the beer and the mustard seeds in a small bowl and soak them for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
Add the vinegar, salt and pepper to the beer/mustard seed mixture. Pour half of the mix into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Mix the pureed mixture with the remaining seed/beer mixture and pour into a jar or container. Taste it, adding more salt if necessary.
Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- Recipe courtesy of Phil Nigash