Corned Beef and Braised Cabbage
corned beef
active time: 1 hour / total time: 5 hours
pickling spice ingredients
- 4 dried chiles de árbol
- ½ inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
- 10 cardamom pods
- 8 dried bay leaves
- 3 tbsp whole peppercorns, preferably black & pink
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp allspice berries
- ½ tbsp juniper berries
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
Brine and Brisket ingredients
- 1 14.9-ounce can irish stout (I used 1 bottle of Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout by Northcoast Brewing co.)
- ½ cup rapadura
- 5 teaspoons pink curing salt
- 2½ cups celtic sea salt OR 1 quart brine from homemade pickles with ½ cup sea salt
- 1 5–6 pound untrimmed flat-cut beef brisket
method
Combine all pickling spice ingredients in a large dry skillet over medium heat. Shake pan occasionally, careful not to burn. Once fragrant (or you're coughing), transfer to a mortar and pestle and crush until coarse, careful not to fine ground spices. Reserve half of the spice mixture in a jar until cooking time.
In a large container or pot, whisk together beer, sugar, pickle juice, and salts until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add remaining spice mixture and brisket to brine and weigh down with a plate to keep it submerged, careful not to fold meat. If it doesn't fit in the container, you can cut it into two chunks. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and chill, flipping meat every 12 hours for at least 5 days.
Bring a stock pot of lightly salted water to a simmer. Remove brisket from brine and rinse thoroughly under cold water; discard brine. Add brisket to simmering water along with reserved ½ cup spice mixture and cook, covered, until corned beef is fork-tender and easily shreds with the grain, 4–4½ hours. Option to move the meat to a 300°F degree oven once it comes to a simmer. Slice corned beef against the grain and serve with your favorite sides.
