Homemade Corned Beef

One of Parker's favorite foods is corned beef & cabbage so for his birthday this year that was his request.  I had forgotten that to make really good corned beef you need to brine the beef brisket for 5-7 days so we had the corned beef a week after his birthday.
It was delicious and you can make corned beef hash for breakfast the following morning with the leftovers.
This recipe requires planning but is easy to make.

Ingredients: 

Pickling spices:

• 1 Tbsp whole allspice berries
• 1 Tbsp whole mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp whole cloves
• 1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 9 whole cardamom pods
• 6 large bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 sick cinnamon

Brine: 

• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup Kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp pickling spices (from above) 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Brisket: 

• 1, 4-5 pound beef brisket
• 1 Tbsp pickling spices (from above) 

1.  You can either use store-bought pickling spices or you can make your own. To make your own, toast the allspice berries, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, cloves, peppercorns and cardamom pods in a small frying pan on high heat until fragrant and you hear the mustard seeds start to pop. Remove from heat and place in a small bowl.  Use a mortar and pestle to crush the spices a little (or the back of a spoon).  Add to a small bowl and stir in the crumbled bay leaves and ground ginger. 

2.  Add about 3 Tbsp of the spice mix (reserve the rest for cooking the corned beef after it has cured), plus the half stick of cinnamon, to a gallon of water in a large pot, along with the Kosher salt and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  Then refrigerate until well chilled.  

3.  Place the brisket in a large, flat container or into a 2-gallon freezer bag or turkey bag (placed in a container so it doesn't leak over your refrigerator).  Pour the cooled brine over the meat, sealed tightly and store in refrigerator for 5-7 days.  Every day flip the brisket over so that all sides get brined equally. 

4.  Preheat over to 300 degrees.  At the end of the cure, remove the brisket from the brine and rinse off the brine with cold water.  Place the brisket in a large pot that just fits around the brisket and cover with at least one inch of water.  Add a tablespoon of pickling spices to the pot.  Bring to a boil, cover and place pot into the oven and continue to cook for 4 hours.  

5.  After 4 hours, remove meat from pot and keep warm.  Add small potatoes and cabbage to the pot and simmer on stove top for 20-30 minutes or until tender.  Then slice the meat thinly against the grain and serve with potatoes, cabbage and horseradish mayo sauce (see recipe below).

Horseradish-Mayo Sauce: 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup jarred grated horseradish (with liquid)

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoons kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, zest, and 1 teaspoons salt. Season generously with pepper to taste. Refrigerate the horseradish sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.