The day of all things green was upon us this week, so in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I wanted to give you some Corned Beef Brisket foodie flick goodness, courtesy of Pioneer Living.
Corned beef is a brisket or similar cut of beef cured or pickled in brine before it is cooked. The "corn" title comes from the corn-sized salt that is used to cure it.
Unfortunately, there is no instant satisfaction for this recipe. The long, 3-week curing process means you might want to tackle it next year. But there is just enough time to whip this up for Easter, or any time you're jonesing for beef prepared in a different way. The recipe requires minimum effort on your part, and even better, as Sarah points out, two briskets mean you can cure one for corn beef and one for pastrami (if you have the means to smoke it) at the same time.
If all of Jonathan's excellent step-by-step instructions weren't enough to convince you that you too can cook up corned beef at home, then watch this episode of Fork You from last year so that we can walk you through the steps in live action. As an added bonus, the episode also includes a recipe for Irish Soda Bread (which was excellent but it doesn't keep well, so plan on only making the amount that you and your brunch/dinner guests can eat in sitting).
I got in a long phone conversation last night with a friend of mine, Chef Josh Gamage, about St. Patrick's Day. I asked about how it's celebrated here in Maine from a food and drink standpoint. Growing up in NY I am used to enormous partying, eating mediocre corned beef and cabbage, and drinking many pints of stout; while grooving to the madness of the Upper East Side and the Parade. No green beer for me, thanks. Then the next day I buy a half dozen corned beef when they go on sale and freeze them for later use.
Josh told me that here in Maine it isn't celebrated as much as I am used to, but at home there is usually a New England boiled dinner on March 17th. The question is, what meat is boiled for the dinner? It seems that according to Josh there is a 50/50 break on whether it will be boiled Corned Beef or boiled Smoked Pork Shoulder.
I immediately ran to my library and the internet to do some research. I found that boiled pork is much more likely to be an authentic Irish meal. Beef wasn't a traditional Irish food, but pork was and is. With bacon, basically any cut of pork or smoked pork the choice for St. Patrick's Day dinner. It seems that beef was exported to England but too expensive for the Irish, but pork was a plentiful food.
I've had corn beef exactly one time in my life, about 20 years ago. I was over a good friend's house and his wife made it, and I thought I was going to be sick. Nothing wrong with the way that she made it, I just don't like corned beef (which I quickly discovered that night). The entire meal was a chore, trying to smile and talk while I'm chewing the corned beef a thousand times, afraid to swallow.
For a long time, I could not eat corned beef hash. It didn't matter if the beef came from cows that grazed on organic greens in the dewy fields at the base of the Himalayas and the potatoes were handpicked by Thomas Keller himself from his own backyard. I wouldn't be able to eat it because I had been traumatized by corned beef hash from a Spam-like can throughout my childhood. You know what I'm talking about. Hormel Corned Beef Hash looks ,and smells, disturbingly like Alpo.
But, I many be cured of some such scarring after seeing this photo of homemade corned beef hash as prepared by Mae Gabriel of food blog Rice and Noodles. Though I am not a huge rice fan, I love how the juices from the hash are seeping down through the rice. Very sexy -- and to think it's corned beef hash!
New York City's Carnegie Deli will honor talk show host Jerry Springer by naming a sandwich after him. The deli, which is equally famous
for its corned beef as well its gruff waiters, will christen the sandwich tomorrow at 2:00PM. Customers may
even have a chance to be served by the man himself.
There's no word as to the ingredients of the new sandwich. One thing's for sure - there won't be "lotsa
corned beef plus lotsa pastrami." That artery-clogging combo comprises a gutbomb called the
"Woody Allen." Geez, Woody must have one hell of a metabolism.
What do you think the "Jerry Springer" sandwich would contain?
Normally when I write about a gigantic Guinness-worthy food item I have some
confirmation. In this case I don't. As a matter of fact, I don't even have a photo of the freakish food in question.
So, imagine the sandwich pictured here much, much larger. Good, now picture it even bigger!
I'm pretty
confident that the near 300-pound, four-foot-by-five-foot reuben was that was laid out for St. Pat's partiers at a
Milwaukee bar last night is one for the books. One hundred pounds of corned beef, 40 pounds of swiss, 80 pounds of
sauerkraut and three gallons of thousand island dressing went into the nearly 300-pound creation. What I want to know
is what did they cook it on? And just how many pounds Tums were consumed afterwards?
A few days ago, I posted about
Lent, the 40 days before Easter in which there is the tradition of giving something luxury, excess and
indulgence, in addition to the general guidelines of abstaining from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every
Friday during Lent (including Good Friday).
But what about those who'd like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this Friday, but also really do strictly observe the
Lenten guidelines? Many will want to eat traditional corned
beef. According to an article at Slate, the archbishop
of Atlanta has agreed to grant a dispensation for Lent this year so that members of the diocese may eat meat this
Friday as part of their St. Patrick's Day celebrations." In fact, almost a third of the diocese in the States have
done the same thing.
The outcome of last week's Hot Springs International Corned Beef Eating Championship have sent shockwaves through the
competitive eating community, according to a recent release from the International
Federation of Competitive Eating. The underdog victor of this Arkansas event was a young Chicago upstart named Patrick Bertoletti, who edged out veterans Sonya
Thomas and Joey Chestnut by taking down 11 Oaklawn corned beef sandwiches in 10 minutes. Thomas and Chestnut, the
second and third ranked competitive eaters in the world, tied with 10.75 sandwiches each and Chestnut eventually won
second place in an overtime match. Bertolleti took home $3,000.
The cover this month is food porn for those of you who love 
New York City's 
Normally when I write about a gigantic 
The outcome of last week's Hot Springs International Corned Beef Eating Championship have sent shockwaves through the
competitive eating community, according to a 
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