Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  The day were everyone gets to be Irish.  It's also a day to try out some really awesome Irish food.  Today I'm going doing a series of post of Irish recipes as well as throw in a post or two just on Irish cooking and a wee bit of history there of, too.  I'll kick things off with a recipe for a classic.  Corned beef and cabbage.

This is a favorite in this house hold.  We make it almost every month.  While corned beef and cabbage is a classic, it looks like it may just be a variation of another dish from Ireland, Bacon and Cabbage.  Now, for those of you that don't know, Ireland has two types of bacon.  The one the Americans are most familiar with is called rashers there.  No, Bacon and Cabbage uses Back Bacon which is more like a ham.  It's cured, but may not be smoked.

Anyways, here's a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Ingredients

    * 1 pound kosher salt
    * 2 gallons water, divided
    * 8 pounds beef brisket
    * 6 bay leaves
    * 8 black peppercorns
    * 1 onion, chopped
    * 1 medium head cabbage, quartered
    * 1 pound carrots, sliced
    * 1 turnip, chopped
    * 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
    * 8 potatoes - peeled and cubed

Directions

   1. In a large stainless steel or cast iron pot, combine the salt, water and
brisket. Cover and let sit for 7 days in the refrigerator. (Note: brisket must
be completely submerged, so double the salt and water if necessary.)
   2. After 7 days, drain the brine and add 1 gallon fresh water, bay leaves and
peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low/medium low, and simmer for 3 to
3 1/2 hours.
   3. During the last 45 minutes of cooking, add the onion, cabbage, carrots,
turnip, cilantro, and potatoes. Continue simmering until all vegetables are
tender.
 

Charcuterie - Survival of an Art

It's been a shock the last few days to find out that the people I work with and for have never heard of charcuterie even thought they use the products daily. One could even say that they owe their existence to it. Since people seem to not know what it is, allow me to enlighten you. Charcuterie is the craft of preserving meats, notably pork. It's a skill set in the Garde Manger repertoire. In basic terms, it's the craft that makes bacon, corned beef, pastrami, sausages, terrines and a whole host of other goodies, all of which uses a technique that preserves them, even if the need to isn't present now a days.

It's sad to see that it's a skill set that isn't used more. Most households don't make their own sausage, or brine brisket for corned beef even though both are easy to make. I blame some of that on the fact that its really hard to find locally made products of that type which pushes the group of foods out of thought. Why don't you see locally produced terrines or sausages, or any of the others? Regulations. The government has it all tied up so that only the big producers can afford to jump through all the hoops, thus giving all people at large the money grubbing, watered down attempts of charcuterie that we see today.

To help people discover this delightful practice, I present a recipe for sauerkraut. It's simple and cheap to make, giving a good taste. Enjoy!

Sauerkraut

17 cups water

¾ cups + 2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 cabbage, shredded or sliced

• 
  
  Combine water and salt in a pot and simmer, dissolving the salt. Cool.
• 
  
  Combine brine (thats the water and salt bit) with the cabbage in a non-metal container. Cover with a clean dish towel and weigh down with a plate, pressing down so that the cabbage is submerged. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a cool spot for 2 weeks.
• 
  
  Drain, saving the brining liquid. Cover and refrigerate the cabbage. Bring brine to a boil, then chill.
• 
  
  Pour chilled liquid over cabbage until covered. Store, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks

That's it. Easy, eh?