Stress Free, Easy Corned Beef
No need to be Irish or to wait for Saint Patrick's Day to make this mouth watering, super simple corned beef. Serve with side dishes of roasted brussel sprouts or carrots and boiled or roasted baby potatoes. Bingo. You've found your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Dutch oven, soup pot or stew pot
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs. corned beef, remove from brine
- Mitchell Steak Seasoning or favorite meat rub, optional, add enough to lightly coat both sides of meat
- onion powder, add enough to lightly sprinkle on both sides of meat
- garlic powder, add enough to lightly sprinkle on both sides of meat
- tumeric, add enough to lightly sprinkle on both sides of meat
- lemon zest from one lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large carrots , cut ino thick chunks or one 16 oz. bag baby carrots
- 1-2 large onions, sliced thick
- 2 32oz. boxes beef stock
- 1-2 large handfuls pickling spice
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 3-4 dried bay leaves
- 1 handful corriander seeds, whole
- 1 handful tarragon, dried, optional
- 1 handful caraway seeds, optional
- 1 handful juniper berries, optional
Instructions
- Remove corned beef from package and discard brine. Generously coat both the top and bottom of the meat with the Mitchell Steak Seasoning or rub, if using one, onion powder, garlic powder, tumeric, lemon zest and salt and pepper.
- Add olive oil to stock pot or dutch over and heat. Add meat, fat side down. Saute meat until lightly browned, approximately two minutes. Turn corned beef over and saute the other side for approximately 2 more minutes.
- Add carrots, onions and beef stock. The meat should be almost covered by the stock. If not, add a litttle water to the pot.
- Add pickling spice, garlic cloves, bay leaves, corriander seeds, tarragon, caraway seeds and juniper berries. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pot and simmer for approximately 3-3½ hours. Turn off stove and let corned beef remain in broth for 5 minutes. Remove meat from broth. Slice meat against the grain. Corned beef should be fork tender and delicious.
- Serve with roasted or boiled baby potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts.
Notes
1. Don't be put off by the list of ingredients. Most are optional. This is meant to be an easy dump in your ingedients type of recipe. The corned beef will be delicious even if you omit some of the seasonings. I always err on the side of adding more flavor. That's the way I roll.
2. Pickling spice is an actual seasoning in and of itself. That's what the label says when you buy it. Some of the ingredients commonly found in pickling spice are mustard seeds, dried bay leaves, whole allspice, dried garlic, ground ginger, red pepper flakes and crushed cinnamon sticks. If you don't have pickling spice, you can add similiar ingredients individually. Buying it as a ready made mix is just easier.
3. Often brisket will come with a small packet of pickling spice. Fell free to use this as a start. It's not enough for me. That's why I suggest using pickling spice by the handful! Don't worry that pickling spice will go to waste if you buy it. I'm not one to recommend "one hit wonder" spices and seasonings. Pickling spice has many other uses. For example, you can add it to vinegar when making pickles (obviously!) or add it to water when boiling shrimp or lobster. Yum.