Home-corned Beef Brisket & Cabbage, New England-style

Total Time: 172 hrs Preparation Time: 168 hrs Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, cracked
• 3/4 tablespoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 4 -6 lbs fresh beef brisket, preferrably point cut trimmed of excess fat,rinse & pat dry
• 7 -8 lbs prepared vegetables, of your choice

Recipe

• 1 mix salt and seasonings in a small bowl.
• 2 spear brisket about 30 times per side with meat fork or metal skewers.
• 3 rub each side evenly with salt mixture; place in a 2-gallon-size zipper-lock bag, forcing out as much air as possible.
• 4 place in a pan large enough to hold it (a jelly-roll pan works well), cover with second or similar sized pan, and weight with two bricks or heavy cans of similar weight.
• 5 refrigerate 5 to 7 days, turning once a day.
• 6 rinse meat and pat dry.
• 7 bring brisket to a boil with water to cover by 1/2 to 1 inch in a large soup kettle or stockpot (at least eight quarts), skimming any scum that rises to surface.
• 8 cover and simmer until skewer inserted in thickest part of briskest slides out with ease, 2 to 3 hours.
• 9 heat oven to 200 degrees f.
• 10 transfer meat to a large platter, ladling about 1 cup cooking liquid over it to keep it moist.
• 11 cover with foil and set in oven.
• 12 add vegetables from category 1 to kettle (see below) and bring to a boil; cover and simmer until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
• 13 add vegetables from category 2 and bring to a boil; cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
• 14 meanwhile, remove the meat from oven and cut across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.
• 15 transfer vegetables to meat platter, moisten with additional broth and serve.
• 16 vegetables-category 1: carrots-peeled& halved crosswise; thin end halved lengthwise; rutabagas-peeled& halved crosswise; each half cut into 6 chunks; turnips-peeled and quartered; new potatoes-scrubbed and left whole.
• 17 vegetables-category 2: boiling onions-peeled and left whole; green cabbage-uncored (small head), blemished leaves removed& cut into 6 to 8 wedges; parsnips-peeled& halved crosswise; thin ends halved lengthwise, thick end quartered lengthwise; brussel sprouts-blemished leaves removed, stems trimmed and left whole.