Un-Corned Beef Brisket

Serves: 8 with leftovers

Difficulty: Super Simple

Prep Time: 30 minutes if trimming whole brisket

                    15 minutes if using pre-trimmed brisket flat

Cooking Time: 6-7 hours in Crock Pot on Low

                                              4-5 hours in Crock Pot on High

                                              3-4 hours in covered pan in 400* oven

Ingredients:

Un-Corned Beef, Roasted Rutabagas, Turnips and Cabbage.

3-5lb Trimmed Beef Brisket* (or store-bought corned beef brisket)

2 palmfuls Mustard Seed

2 palmfuls Pickling Spice

8 Whole Cloves

10 Juniper Berries (I forgot these and was out)

2 Palmfuls Red Pepper Flakes

2 Palmfuls Kosher Salt

1 Palmful Black Peppercorns

½ c Country Style Dijon Mustard

4-5 cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed

4-5 sprigs Thyme, fresh

4 crumbled Bay Leaves

1 can Guinness (Can sub 1c low sodium chicken broth or 1c. water)

1 bag Boiler Onions, trimmed and peeled

6-8 Baby Carrots, sliced in half lengthwise

Coat both sides of brisket in mustard. Measure out spices and mix together in a small bowl.

Liberally coat both sides of the brisket with spice mixture and rub into the meat a little, making sure it adheres. Top with fresh thyme.

Put in 2gallon bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can. Place plastic bag in a pan to catch any drippings if the bag leaks. Park it in the ice box for a few hours or up to 24hours to marinate.

Remove meat from bag. Discard any liquid that accumulated while it marinated. Place meat on a bed of sliced onion or on top of a bag of boiler onions and baby carrots.

Pour a can of Guinness over the meat. Cover and cook 6-7 hours on low heat or 4-5 hours on high heat. Begin checking meat for doneness at 4 hours. The slower it cooks the better. Never let it run dry. Typically the brisket will render its own juice that will mix with the ale.

Once done, remove un-corned beef brisket and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Cover it with aluminum foil to keep it from drying out.

Also, you can cook un-corned beef up to two days ahead and refrigerate. Retain the liquid and re-warm it in its own liquid on serving day. Making it a day ahead is great because then you can use a little of the fat rendered during cooking to sauté and glaze steamed cabbage and root veggies. Forget about the potatoes and try adventure! Turnips and Rutabagas are wonderful when steamed in part of the cooking broth from the un-corned beef.

*SusieT's Note: You can use a whole brisket as I did, but unless you have a lot of space in your ice box and oven, it will be a pain in the tookus! You can also buy a whole brisket and trim it into two sections: the point and the flat. Each of these sections should have some of the fat trimmed as shown in the recipe.

I prefer the point end of the brisket. Yes, it's fattier but that is exactly why I prefer it! The point end retains its moisture better during cooking. It will render out a lot of the fat and the rest that is left, helps it taste juicy and unctuous. 

Nutrition: Un-Corned Beef Per Serving



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