Home-Corned Beef And Cabbage

Corned Beef:

¾ cup salt

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons pink curing kosher salt No. 1

1 (4½-to-5 pound) beef brisket, flat cut, fat trimmed to 1/8 inch

6 garlic cloves, peeled

6 bay leaves

5 allspice berries

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

Vegetables:

6 carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, thick ends halved lengthwise

1½ pounds small red potatoes, unpeeled

1 head green cabbage (2 pounds), uncored, cut into 8 wedges

For the corned beef, dissolve salt, sugar, and curing salt in 4 quarts water in large container. Add brisket, 3 garlic cloves, 4 bay leaves, allspice berries, 1 tablespoon peppercorns, and coriander seeds to brine. Weigh brisket down with plate, cover, and refrigerate for 6 days.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Remove brisket from brine, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Cut 8 inch square triple thickness of cheesecloth. Place remaining 3 garlic cloves, remaining 2 bay leaves, and remaining 1 tablespoon peppercorns in center of cheesecloth and tie into bundle with kitchen twine. Place brisket, spice bundle, and 2 quarts water in Dutch oven. (Brisket may not lie flat but will shrink slightly as it cooks.) Bring to simmer over high heat, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until fork inserted into thickest part of brisket slides in and out with ease, 2½ to 3 hours.

Remove pot from oven and turn off oven. Transfer brisket to large oven-safe platter, ladle 1 cup of cooking liquid over meat, cover, and return to oven to keep warm.

For the vegetables, add carrots and potatoes to pot and bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until vegetables begin to soften, 7 to 10 minutes.

Add cabbage to pot, increase heat to high, and return to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until all vegetables are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

While vegetables cook, transfer brisket to cutting board. Slice brisket against the grain into ¼-inch-thick slices. Return brisket to platter. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to platter with beef. Moisten with additional broth and serve.

Serves 8 to 10

Nutrition information per serving: 462 calories; 224 calories from fat; 25 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 102 mg cholesterol; 1726 mg sodium; 19 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 41 g protein.

America's Test Kitchen