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Ginny Sher at wrote on 3/12/05 1:31 PM:
>>
> What I was thinking of preparing is "corned beef and cabbage". I
> really don't know anything about "corning beef" and I gather from your
> post it is different than what I was hoping to make. I bought a
> "corned beef" brisket at Costco and want to follow your directions for
> cooking it. It is in the celophane type wrapping and covered in
> spices. I'll put it in a big pot of water, etc. etc. and ultimately
> replace the spices that came on it with some picking spices,
> preferably from Penzey's. I was really hoping to find out the amount
> of pickling spice needed for something around 3 lbs.
>
> Thanks.
> Ginny

Hi Ginny,
Are you are using Penzey's blend of "Pickling Spices", or their Corned Beef
Spices?
There are two and they are different. Neither jar, by the way, instructs for
how much to use to cook corned beef brisket.

Corned Beef Spices salt free: Hand-mixed from: brown and yellow mustard
seeds, coriander, Jamaican allspice, cracked cassia, dill seed, Turkish bay
leaves, Zanzibar cloves, China #1 ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, star
anise, juniper, mace, cardamom, red pepper.

Pickling Spice: Hand-mixed from: yellow and brown Canadian mustard seeds,
Jamaican allspice, cracked China cassia, cracked Turkish bay leaves, dill
seed, Zanzibar cloves, cracked China ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, star
anise, Moroccan coriander, juniper berries, West Indies mace, cardamom and
medium hot crushed red peppers.

If you have to buy a supermarket brand, I would add black peppercorns to
whatever you buy, it will be mostly mustard seeds. Also, if you have some
dill seed, toss them in, and a couple bay leaves, at least.

Now, I have a 3lb point cut corned beef I just bought, along with the
attending cabbage, potatoes, turnips and carrots. My mom always made it a
"New England Boiled Dinner" and ALWAYS included turnips and carrots. YUM!

What I plan to do is to rinse off the meat, and I cook mine in my crock pot.
(I LOVE my crock pot!)

What I usually do is layer the cut up root veggies (not the cabbage, I
despise overcooked cabbage!) in the bottom, along with an onion, cut in
half, and the meat on top of the veggies. I add 5-6 garlic cloves which have
been peeled and smashed but not cut up (the smashing releases the flavor,
but keeping it whole makes it easier to fish them out later). The garlic
goes right on top of the meat. I toss in a bay leaf or two, and then I use
about a teaspoon of both corned beef spice and pickling spice (if I have
pickling. if not, 2 teaspoons of the cb spice) and I also use a teaspoonful
of whole black peppercorns. I put them in a bowl and break them up some
with the side of a small cup. Just to flatten the whole spices a bit, it
helps release their flavors.

Then I put in just enough water to not quite cover the meat. The meat will
float, anyway, but you don't want it drowned, just a moist environment.

I put the slow-cooker (crock pot) on low heat and let it go for 9-10 hours.
When I get home from work, I put the cabbage wedges into a sauce pan and
ladle some of the water the meat cooked in into the pot. Bring it to a boil
and let it cook 10-15 minutes, until it's the desired degree of done, which
for me is completely cooked through but not mush. This way, you get the
flavors of the cooking water without overcooking it. If I were making this
on the stove top, I still wouldn't put the cabbage in the pot until the last
15 minutes...same idea.

While the cabbage is cooking, let the meat rest. Fish out the veggies from
the brine. I will usually butter the veggies, that's what my mom always
did, including the cabbage. All on a platter for us to take what we want.

Sometimes I gather up some of the drained garlic cloves and softened
peppercorns and other spices (Not the bay leaves of course) whirr them
together with the stick the blender until they make a paste and add some
dijon mustard for a flavorful condiment for the meat. it's really good!
Horseradish would zip it up.

On a stove top, I still wouldn't overdo the water. Only for 2 hours, rather
than 9-10.