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Corned Beef with Boiled Potatoes
Rinse corned beef in cold water, tie it in shape, put in kettle and cover with cold water. Bring to boil, then simmer until tender, allowing 3/4 hours per pound of meat. When almost done, remove some of the water and cook the pared potatoes in with the corned beef.
A plain boiled dinner from a weekly menu plan, written for cooks who already knew what corned beef was. A few things need translating for a modern kitchen.
- Keep it below a boilThe one instruction that matters: bring it to a boil, then drop the heat so the surface barely trembles, around 180-190F. Corned beef held at a rolling boil turns stringy and dry no matter how long it cooks.
- The timingThree-quarters of an hour per pound is the intended rate, so a 4 lb brisket runs about 3 hours. Judge by feel rather than the clock -- a fork should slide into the thickest part with no resistance.
- Rinsing and soakingModern brined corned beef from a vacuum pack is far less salty than the barrel-cured meat of a century ago. A rinse under cold water is enough; the long soaking older books sometimes call for will leave it bland.
- Spice packetSupermarket corned beef often comes with a small packet of pickling spice. Add it to the pot with the cold water, or leave it out; the recipe says nothing about spices.
- "Kettle"Here this means a large deep pot, not a tea kettle. Use something that holds the meat with at least two inches of water above it.
- Removing some waterLadling out liquid before the potatoes go in makes room for them, and may also keep them from taking on too much salt, though the recipe gives no reason. Peeled potatoes cut to even size need 20-25 minutes in the pot.
- Resting and slicingLet the meat sit 10-15 minutes out of the liquid before cutting, and slice across the grain. Brisket cut with the grain shreds into strings.
- YieldFigure roughly half a pound of raw corned beef per person; a 4 lb piece with potatoes serves six to eight.