Gourmet Monday

I don't remember having Corned Beef until I was an adult. My parents claim that they have been making Corned Beef on St Patrick's Day for years. When I was in my early twenties I started working part time at a small Italian Restaurant and they served a Hot Corn Beef Sandwich. Finally after delivering what seem like a million Corn Beef Sandwiches I decided to try one, after that I was hooked. I remember the process to cook the Corned Beef took days and the smell was not always pleasant. Boy how that has changed. If you serve Corned Beef you can not forget the mustard or the horseradish. This particular Corned Beef was so tender you could cut it with a fork. It was not the most inexpensive piece of meat but we figured we were able to get eight meals out of one piece of meat. Hopefully we can find another today the hubby would like it again next week. I started out cooking it in the crock pot but I just felt like it was not getting cooked evenly. So I moved it to a large pot on the gas stove on a very low setting for about four hours. If you can boil water , measure ingredients, and chop vegetables you can make this yourself.

Corned Beef and Vegetables

5 to 7 lbs Corned Beef
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
2 whole allspice
6 parsnips
2 cups of carrots
2 onions peeled halved through root ends
1 2 pound head of cabbage
Cheesecloth
6 peeled medium white skinned potatoes

Wrap cheesecloth around bay leaves, coriander seeds, and allspice enclosing completely and tie with kitchen string to secure. Place corned beef in very large wide pot. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add spice bag to pot with beef; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low cover, and simmer until beef is tender about 4 hours. Transfer beef to large baking sheet.
Add all remaining vegetables to liquid in pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently until all vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to baking sheet with beef. Return beef to pot and rewarm 5 minutes. Discard spice bag.
Cut beef against grain into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange beef and vegetables on platter. Serve with Horseradish and Mustard. Perfect with the Horseradish Sauce I made a few week ago with the Rare Roast Beef Sandwich.