I decided to try something new for New Year’s. A friend of mine had mentioned about a month ago that she was making some corned beef. I never did get to try some, can’t remember why, but I got to poking around the internet to find a way to make just a piece of meat into corned beef. I found a nice piece of chuck on sale so I figured, why not?!! Found this recipe online:
I was really pretty apprehensive about how it was gonna turn out. That was a LOT of spices. And I’ve not been used to using so much coriander. (Actually, I didn’t use quite as much as the recipe called for on the final rub because I ran out. But it was still a lot of it.)
It soaked for maybe 8 days or so in it’s brine. Then it got the rub and got it’s sous vide at 140 for about 50 hours or so.
When I cut it up for New Year’s dinner, I was worried about whether it would even be good. I sliced it thin. Tasted a little bit. Hmm. That was pretty good. Tasted a little more. Dang, this is good! Tender, juicy, loaded with flavor.
It was a big hit! It was eaten, lots of seconds, some thirds, and several even wanted to take a few little pieces home with them. That’s unusual. They didn’t take quite all of it, there was enough for steak and eggs for breakfast this morning. But it’s gone now.
I may try again, perhaps playing with the seasonings a bit. But the long brine put a LOT of flavor, and I’m guessing moisture, into the meat, both of which I really liked.
Anyway, just sharing. Hoping this year will allow me to add a smoker to the stable of meat cooking tools to make it even better. But if not, sous vide is really, really good.
