You don't have to be Irish to love corned beef. Eastern European Jews are great connoisseurs of all manner of boiled meat, and New York deli is renowned for its sandwiches piled high with thin slices of this pink, juicy meat. But St. Patrick's Day is coming up a week from Thursday, and that gives you plenty of time (you only need about 5 days, which means you should get started by Saturday at the latest), and the perfect reason, to make your own this year. In its original, peasanty guise, this traditional fodder is as much about the vegetables: turnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions, parsnips, cabbage and plenty of spuds, of course. Not to mention delicious mustards and horseradish sauce. It's a dish meant to usher in spring by using up all those roots stored for the winter. The date for celebrating St. Patrick—a 5th-century English missionary who converted a load of pagans to Christianity—fell during the fasting season of Lent, but prohibitions against eating meat were lifted so the Irish could celebrate their patron saint with dancing, drinking and feasting on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. If you make a big hunk of meat, you can share it with lucky friends, or hoard it to make such delectable offshoots as red flannel hash (with beets) and Reuben sandwiches (with homemade sauerkraut).
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If you want to make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, you're already too late! Sheesh. I went to investigate some recipes and saw that most call for brining the meat for 8 days. We've got 4. My brisket is very small (about 2 pounds), since it's just for G and me, but this is a great meal to feed a bunch of people—like a family with 6 kids perhaps? I wanted to get this post up quickly, in case you'd like to go to the market today and get your supplies. This recipe looks long and involved but it's actually pretty simple. I just made the pickling spices and the brine and got my meat squared away in about 12 minutes. There are hurricane warnings and flood alerts in effect today in Sullivan Country, but for some reason we're still determined to hit the road for a pilgrimage north to Delicacies of the Delaware—a fantastic smokehouse where we like to stock up on wonderful things from time to time. Hopefully we won't float away...
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