I remembered to take pictures this year! I made a few tweaks and changes, but nothing major. And I almost forgot to take a picture of the plated dinner! Sorry about the quality.
Corned Beef
Remove seasoning packet, rinse, and set it aside for later. Trim off all excess fat and rinse brisket. Dry off with paper towel. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a dutch oven on high. Season both sides with a generous sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Sear both sides of brisket for 8-10 minutes, or until the brisket no longer sticks to the bottom of the pan. This ensures it's been caramelized properly.
I have used regular and non-alcoholic beer. This year the beer guy was stocking Amber flavored O'doul's and I asked him what the difference was. He said he had no clue, he doesn't drink alcohol either. LOL So, I thought I'd give it a try. It was a good decision. This had a richer, yet lighter flavor.
Cut open the seasoning packets and pour in a microwave proof bowl. I microwaved 3 times in increments of 30 seconds on high. This helps bring out the oils from the peppercorns and mustard seeds, and everything else yummy in there. I think I could smell fennel or caraway as well. MMMmmmmm. Sprinkle evenly over the bottom of a large roasting pan. (I used foil this time just for easier clean up.) Add a few bay leaves to the pan too.
Heat the oven to 275'. Remove seared briskets and place over seasonings in large pan.
Pour 2 12oz. bottles of non-alcoholic beer over briskets.
Cover with foil and place on bottom rack of oven for several hours. When done, cut across the grain to ensure the most tender bites. I cooked the veggies and bread below after the Corned Beef was removed from the oven. It needs to rest anyways.
Roasted Root Veggies
This year I tried a few new veggies.
3 peeled and diced parsnips
4 peeled and diced carrots
2 lbs. button mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, cut in half
8 cleaned and diced red potatoes
1 large, peeled, diced, sweet potato
1 large onion large diced
Add all veggies to an extra large bowl.
Sprinkle generously with kosher salt, all purpose seasoning, dried parsley, fresh ground pepper, celery seed, and about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
With clean hands or gloves, toss vegetables well to coat all pieces with seasonings and oil. Pour into a very large, deep pan sprayed with non-stick spray or coated with olive oil. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Cabbage
Remove outer layer of leaves and trim stem if needed. Do not remove the
core, this will hold the wedges together for baking. Cut into 8- wedges
with core still intact. Place in a greased roasting pan. Drizzle with
a few DROPS of olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and a
drizzle of the braising liquid from the Corned Beef. Roast uncovered
for 20-30 min. in a 450' oven. (I did this at the latter part while
roasting the other vegetables.)
Beer Bread:
This is the recipe I used.
LINK HERE
Because I used non-alcoholic beer I added 2 1/4 tsp. of active dry
yeast and it came out beautifully. I thought at first that I had burned
the bread, however, if you drizzle the butter over the bread before
baking, like the recipe calls for, it does turn a dark brown. But, it's
more of a "browned butter" flavor, vs. burned. It's a very yummy, deep
flavor. And of course, serve with butter on the side.
Copy/Paste of the Recipe:
Ingredients:
Servings:
- 3 cups flour (sifted)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
- 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 (12 ounce) can beer
- 1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)
Directions:
Prep Time: 3 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix dry ingredients and beer.
- Pour into a greased loaf pan.
- Pour melted butter over mixture.
- Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.
- UPDATED NOTES: This recipe makes a very hearty bread with a
crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust (like a
traditional bread) mix the butter into the batter instead of pouring it
over the top.
- Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just
scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That
compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a "hard biscuit" as
some have described. That's because they aren't sifting their flour! If
you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1
cup measure. Try it once the "correct" way and you will see an amazing
difference in the end product.
- I have had many email from you kind folks about using non-alcoholic
beverages instead of beer. That is fine to do but I highly recommend
adding a packet of Dry Active Yeast or 2 teaspoons of Bread (Machine)
Yeast so that you get a proper rise.
- The final result should be a thick, hearty and very tasteful bread, NOT A BRICK! ;).
- Thank you all for the incredibly nice comments and those of you who
left a bad review - learn to sift sift SIFT! You will be amazed at the
results you get.
Mustard Sauce:
SUPER easy!!! Mix 2-3 Tbl. dijon with
horseradish style mustard with 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt(non-fat versions work fine), and 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce. Use this to top
your meat or veggies.
ORIGINAL POST HERE
