Adapted from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups kosher salt
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pink salt (sodium nitrite), optional
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs fresh ginger, minced
3 tbs pickling spice (below)
1 2.5-pound beef brisket or chuck roast
5 quarts water
Pickling Spice-
1/2 tbs black peppercorns
1/2 tbs white peppercorns
1 tbs allspice berries
1 tbs juniper berries
1 tbs brown mustard seeds
1 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs hot red chili flakes
1 tsp whole, crushed nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick, broken
5 star anise crumbled
4 bay leaves crumbled
Dinner-
2 onions, quartered
4 carrots (or parsnips), 2 inch chunks
4 potatoes, quartered
1 head cabbage, quartered
Instructions:
In a stock pot, combine salt, sugar, optional pink salt, garlic, ginger, 3 tbs pickling spice and 5 quarts of water. Heat to dissolve, then chill. In a 2 gallon or larger container, submerge your beef in the brine. Store in the fridge for 5 days. Remove meat from brine and rinse thoroughly. Wrap until ready to use. The cured meat can sit for another week out of the brine before cooking.
When you’re ready to cook it, add the beef to a pot. Cover with water, add 3 tbs of the pickling spice, and bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer for 3 hours. Taste a bit of the meat. If it’s to salty, drain off the water, add fresh with 1 tbs of pickling spice, and simmer until fork tender. If the meat tastes good, continue to cook until tender. Add the vegetables the last half hour, or draw off some stock to simmer them separately. Slice the meat and serve. Notice the excellent Fulton Beer we had with it. The beef makes dynamite corned beef hash the next day, along with all manor of delicious sandwiches. Leftovers can also be frozen, but I never have enough for that.