Food for Thought

In preparation for St. Patty's day, we just seasoned 3 beef briskets. Two of them we submerged in a brine, and the third we did a dry rub. This is probably the easiest thing there is to do. The brine is just 1 1/2 cups salt, 1 cup sugar, a couple tablespoons pickling spice, two tablespoons dry mustard, and three crushed garlic cloves all brought to a boil in 6 quarts of water then cooled. Find a plastic or glass container big enough to submerge the briskets and store is a cool place for 3 weeks or so. My Grandfather, who was a butcher in the old days, used to take dark meat from the sales case and toss it is a big barrel of brine in the cooler. When the meat floated, it was corned beef. No kidding! The dry rub is similar ingredients, no water of course , rubbed all over the brisket and stuck in a ziplock. The only thing different here is you need to find something really heavy like a brick and weight it down. This causes the meat to purge and forces the rub in through the meat helping the curing process. Every couple of days massage the meat and that is it. Do this now and you will have homemade corned beef for the holiday. With both methods you must rinse the meat prior to cooking. Some carrots, potatoes, and cabbage in the cooking pot round out this traditional meal, and of course, a pint of Guiness is a must.