Corned Beef and Cabbage

Method

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1. Rinse the brisket under cold water for a minute to take off the surface cure, then put it fat side up in a large pot.

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2. Add the bay, peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, onion, garlic and any supplied spice packet, and cover with cold water by 5 cm. Add no salt.

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3. Bring to a bare simmer, skim off the grey foam, then cover and cook at the gentlest possible simmer for 2 hours 45 minutes. The surface should barely move.

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4. Test with a fork: it should slide in and out with almost no resistance. If it does not, give it another 30 minutes.

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5. Lift the beef onto a board, tent it, and leave it to rest while the vegetables cook.

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6. Add the potatoes to the pot and simmer 10 minutes, then the carrots for another 10.

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7. Lay the cabbage wedges on top, cover, and cook 12 minutes more until tender at the core.

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8. Slice the beef thickly across the grain — across, not along, or it will pull into strings — and serve with the vegetables, a ladle of the broth, mustard and parsley.

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Chef’s Tips

• Never let it boil. A boil is the difference between sliceable and stringy, and it cannot be undone.
• Find the grain before you cook it, while it is easy to see, and remember which way it runs.
• Keep the broth. It makes the best base there is for a next-day soup with the leftovers.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.

Pairing Suggestions

• Soda bread and butter
• A pint of stout
• Horseradish cream

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerated in its broth for 4 days — storing it in the liquid is what stops it drying. Sliced cold it makes a Reuben.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.