Text 11397, 127 rader
Skriven 2014-03-26 20:56:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HAFFLY
Ärende: different standards 376
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 RH> I've learned to enjoy smaller portions of some things now, savoring
 RH> them more.

Ah, the killjoy wisdom of maturity. [g]

 ML> Chuckie, unwilling to cut corners on the real food, can no
 ML> longer afford to give Carl a discount, so Carl and I split
 ML> the tab, which with all we could eat including beer came
 ML> to $13 per diner.
 RH> Sounds like the Thai was a good meal.

His wife is the cook, and she knows what she's doing.

 I'm not too thrilled with Panda
 RH> Express (or other mall food court type Chinese).

Who is? I've discovered, though, that in airports,
when there's tofu on the steam table, it might be the
most edible thing for miles around. Eggplant I've tried,
and forget it.

 RH> Sounds interesting, where's he located?

McKellips and Country Club.

 ML> The tripod has finally been exhausted, long live the tripod.
 RH> Hasn't a leg to stand on any more.
 ML> That's about the long and short of it.
 RH> Sigh! Saw some interesting recipies from your postings.

I actually learned something from that site, namely that
timur is Szechwan peppercorn. Of course, that's not quite
true, but pretty close.
 
 ML> As I recall, the flavor goes seed-root-stem-leaf, with the
 ML> closer listings having closer flavors.
 RH> Steve uses the seed when he makes pastrami.

Most pastrami has it.

Corned beef
cat: deli
Yield: 6 lb, enough for 12 big fat NY Deli sandwiches

8 lb beef brisket
4 qt water
1 c brown sugar, preferably dark
8 oz kosher salt, by weight
4 ts pink curing salt #1 (opt)
5 Tb pickling spices
4 cloves garlic, smashed or pressed

About the kosher salt. When you weigh salt, it doesn't
matter what type of salt you use. When you measure by
volume, there is a big difference because different
salts have different grain sizes. I prefer Morton's
kosher salt because it has fewer additives. For more
about different salts, read the article on the Zen of
Salt on amazingribs.com.

About the Pink Curing Salt #1. You can skip it and
just add 4 ts more table salt, but the meat will be
tan in color. and slightly different in flavor.

About the beef. Many delis use the fattier navel cut.
You can also use boneless short rib meat, flank steak,
tongue, or round, but round can be very thick, so cut
in into 1.5" planks. For that matter you can use any
cut you want, but brisket is my fave.

Find a container large enough to handle 1 gallon of
brine and the meat (you can cut it into pieces as small
as 2 lb). It must be non-reactive (stainless steel,
glass, porcelain, Corningware, or food safe plastic).
It cannot be made of aluminum, copper, or cast iron,
all of which can react with the salt. Do not use
garbage bags or a garbage can or a bucket from Home
Depot. They are not food grade. Do not use a styrofoam
cooler. It might give the meat an off flavor and you'll
never get the cooler clean when you're done. Food grade
zipper bags or Reynolds Easy Brining Bag for Turkeys
work fine. A reader, Reid Garner, says he lines a 5 ga
plastic bucket with a Large Reynolds Oven Bag. It fits
perfectly and the bucket makes it easy to move the brine
in and out.

To make the cure/brine, mix all the ingredients except
the meat in 1 qt very hot water. Add 3 qt very cold
water.

Take the meat and remove as much fat as possible from
the exterior unless you plan to use some of it for
pastrami. Then leave a 1/8" layer on one side. Because
corned beef is cooked in simmering water, the fat just
gets gummy and unappetizing. [M says: this is a lie.]
But if you plan to then make pastrami from it, you
will be smoking the meat and in that case the fat gets
succulent and lubricates the sandwich. I like to buy a
full packer brisket and separate the point from the
flat, and cut the flat in half when making corned beef
or pastrami. That gives me 3 manageable hunks of 2 - 4
lb each. If you leave the point attached to the flat
beneath, it will be very thick and take longer to cure.

Add the meat to the brine. It will float, so put a
plate or bowl or another nonmetallic weight on top of
the meat until it submerges. The meat will drink up
brine so make sure there is enough to cover it by at
least 1" or else you'll find the meat high and dry
after a few days. Refrigerate. Let it swim for at
least 5 days, longer if you wish, especially if the
meat is more than 2" thick. You will not likely need
more than 7 days, but once it is well cured, it can
stay in the brine for several weeks. I don't know
the limit, but I've left it in there for a month.
Move the meat around so touching parts get exposed
to brine for the first week, and then you can ignore
it. When you are done, the exterior of the meat will
be pale tan and if you cut into it, it should not
look too different than normal raw meat, just a
little pinker.

Meathead Goldwyn, amazingribs.com

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