Corned Beef

This St. Patrick's Day, I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe to make corned beef at home. It essentially consists of rubbing a brisket with some herbs and spices, and a LOT of salt.

Seriously, I think it was a half-cup of salt alone....

Note my lovely assistant, and the monstrous pile of fat I had to trim from the backside of the brisket. The tricksy butcher hid it on the underside! Next time I know to ask him to trim the fat before packaging it up.

I bought this gorgeous piece of brisket and couldn't wait to try out the recipe. After five days of brining in the fridge, it was ready. I boiled it up with some cabbage and carrots. It smelled so good!

We dug in, and -- yuck! Too much salt. WAY too much salt. I had rinsed the meat thoroughly before adding it to the pot, but I guess that wasn't enough. Next time I think I'll cut it down by half, and maybe give the meat a preliminary boil, then swap the water out for fresh stuff before adding any veggies.

Conclusion: Better luck next year!