Vermont Boiled Dinner

This is a clock-based schedule rather than a conventional recipe: nothing is weighed, and the whole point is the staggered order in which things go into one pot so everything finishes together at noon. The proportions are left to the cook.

• Total timeFive hours of gentle boiling for the corned beef, which suits a 4-5 lb brisket or round. Keep the water at a bare simmer, not a rolling boil, or the meat tightens and shreds instead of slicing.
• The vegetable in the second slotThe eight o'clock addition as printed repeats the meat, which looks like a misprint; a long-cooking root is the obvious candidate, possibly beets, turnip or rutabaga, though the text does not say. Whole beets would need roughly three to four hours in a crowded pot, and would stain the whole dinner pink, which is one reason beets are often boiled separately.
• Cabbage in a bagA loose cheesecloth or muslin bag keeps the wedges from falling apart and makes them easy to lift out. Three hours is far longer than modern taste wants for cabbage; 20-30 minutes at the end gives wedges that still hold together. If you follow the original schedule, expect it very soft and strong-smelling.
• PotatoesForty-five minutes for whole medium potatoes is about right. Peel them and leave them whole, or halve larger ones; cut surfaces disintegrate in a long-simmered pot.
• Corned beef todayModern supermarket corned beef is wet-cured with nitrite and is much less salty than a barrel-cured piece from a farm cellar. Rinse it, cover with fresh water rather than the brine, and taste the broth before adding any salt at all.
• Skim earlyA good deal of scum and fat rises in the first half hour. Take it off before the vegetables go in, or it clings to them.
• Yield and servingA 4-5 lb piece feeds six to eight with the vegetables. Slice the meat across the grain, arrange the vegetables around it, and serve the broth separately; horseradish, mustard or a cruet of cider vinegar is traditional at the table.