ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130028
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
Yes, right there in your own refrigerator. It takes a few weeks, but the work involved in this recipe adapted from Julia Child's ``The Way to Cook'' (Knopf, 1989) is minimal.
Child explains that brisket is the traditional beef cut used to make corned beef, but she prefers either top or bottom round, because it slices nicely. But don't expect it to be pink, the way it is at the deli counter. Doing it at home, without preservatives and nitrites, results in a brown or even gray color.
HOME CORNED BEEF
1 1/3 cups coarse (kosher) salt
1 Tbsp. cracked peppercorns
2 tsp. ground allspice
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried sage (ground sage can be used)
1 tsp. ground or crumbled imported bay leaf
A fully trimmed, boneless, 10- to-12-pound top or bottom round of beef (or the eye round, boneless chuck or brisket)
Combine the salt, cracked peppercorns, allspice, thyme, paprika, sage and bay leaf in a bowl.
Place the meat in a plastic bag roomy enough to hold the meat comfortably. Rub the combined seasonings all over it. Press as much air out of the bag as possible, then tie it securely closed and set it in a pan or bowl. Cover with a second pan, fill the second pan with weights and place it in the refrigerator, where the temperature should remain at 37 or 38 degrees.
Within a few hours, red juice will begin to exude from the meat - the cure has begun. Once a day, without opening the bag, massage the meat with its juices and spices and turn the bag over (put a sign on your refrigerator to remind yourself). In two weeks the cure is done, and the special flavor has been achieved.
The beef will now keep, still in the corning liquid, several months under refrigeration - but turn it every few days just to be sure all is well. If you have a large piece of meat, you may want to cook only part of it and leave the rest in the cure.
Before cooking the beef, wash off the salt cure and soak the meat in a large bowl of cold water in the refrigerator, changing the water 2 or 3 times. As the salt leaves the flesh, the meat softens, and when thoroughly de-salted, it will feel almost like fresh beef. Cut off a snippet, cook it in simmering water and taste it to make sure it's thoroughly de-salted. De-salting may take 2 to 3 days if the meat has been cured a number of weeks.
Once the meat is de-salted, it is just as perishable as fresh meat. Keep it refrigerated and cook it soon.
The simplest method is to place the beef in a large pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook the beef 3 to 4 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Makes about 20 servings.
- THE WASHINGTON POST
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB