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Boiled Corned Beef
Soak over night if very salt, but if beef is young and properly corned this is not necessary; pour over it cold water enough to cover it well, after washing off the salt. The rule for boiling meats is twenty-five minutes to a pound, but corned beef should be placed on a part of the stove or range where it will simmer, not boil, uninterruptedly from four to six hours, according to the size of the piece. If to be served cold, some let the meat remain in the liquor until cold, and some let tough beef remain in the liquor until the next day, and bring it to the boiling point just before serving. Simmer a brisket.or plate-piece until the bones are easily removed, fold over, forming a square or oblong piece, place sufficient weight on top to press the parts closely together, and set where it will become cold. This gives a firm, solid piece to cut in slices, and is a delightful relish. Boil liquor down, remove the fat, season with pepper or sweet herbs, and save it to pour over finely minced scraps and pieces of beef; press the meat firmly into a mold, pour over it the liquor, and place over it a close cover with a weight upon it. When turned from the mold, garnish with sprigs of parsley or celery, and serve with fancy pickles or French mustard. -Mrs. S. H. J.
A method rather than a formula: the recipe assumes you already have a piece of corned beef and want to know what to do with it, including the two cold preparations that follow the boiling.
- Simmer, never boilThis is the hinge. Held at a rolling boil, the muscle fibres of brisket seize and squeeze out moisture, and the meat turns stringy no matter how long it cooks. Keep the water at 180-190F, barely shivering, for the whole four to six hours.
- "A part of the stove or range where it will simmer"On a wood range this meant the cooler end of the top. On a modern hob it means the lowest setting with the lid ajar, or a 275-300F oven, which holds a gentle temperature far more reliably.
- The twenty-five-minutes-a-pound rule does not applyThe author says so herself, then gives the real guide: four to six hours by size. Corned brisket is done when a skewer slides out with no resistance, roughly 200-205F internal, not at a calculated time.
- Soaking and saltinessCommercial corned beef today is brine-injected and moderately salted, so overnight soaking is rarely needed. Rinse it, taste the cooking water after an hour, and change some of it if the liquor is aggressively salty, particularly if you intend to reduce it later.
- Cooling in the liquorGood advice worth keeping: the meat reabsorbs moisture as it cools and slices far better. Cool it no longer than two hours at room temperature, then move pot and all to the refrigerator rather than leaving it out overnight as the original allows.
- The pressed brisketBone out the hot meat, fold it into a loaf tin or square dish, lay a plate on top and weight it with two or three tins of food. Chill under weight for at least eight hours; the natural gelatin sets and the block slices cleanly.
- The potted beefThe reduced liquor is essentially a salty aspic and, depending on how much collagen the brisket has given up, may set on its own. Reduce it by half or more, skim the fat, and taste before adding salt of any kind. Keep the finished mould refrigerated and eat it within three or four days.
- YieldThe recipe gives no size. As a rough guide, a 4-5 lb piece of corned brisket may lose something like a third of its weight in cooking and serve six to eight hot, with enough trimmings for a small potted mould.
Corning has nothing to do with maize: the "corns" are the coarse grains of salt rubbed into beef to preserve it, and the word predates refrigeration by centuries. Brisket and plate were among the cheaper cuts, and salting beef down in a barrel was one ordinary way to carry it through warm months. What makes this entry characteristic of The Dixie Cook Book is that it does not stop at the boiling. The pressed brisket and the moulded potted beef are both economies dressed as luxuries, turning the bones, scraps and cooking liquor into a sliceable cold dish for the sideboard, garnished with parsley and served with pickles or French mustard. The initials at the end, "Mrs. S. H. J.", reflect the book's compilation from contributed household receipts rather than a single author's kitchen.