We had boiled dinners when I was growing up, but my French-Canadian family often used ham. I remember corned beef around St. Patrick's Day only a few times. It was usually a meal we would eat out. Either way, I always loved these meals and today always feel so content when I cook and eat a hearty boiled dinner with my family.
I bought all organic vegetables. They still had dirt on them and I loved the earthy fragrance!
I gently simmered Whole Foods' own corned brisket for 3 hours, then added vegetables to the pot for 30 minutes. After that, I added cabbage for another 30 minutes. The beets were boiled separately until fork tender.
While the vegetables simmered, I made the horseradish dressing, removed beets, cooled, peeled and sliced.
I served it all together . . .
New England Boiled Dinner, from American Food by Evan Jones
3 1/2 lb corned beef brisket
5 turns of freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 parsnip
1/2 rutabaga
3 large carrots
4 medium-sized potatoes
1/2 cabbage
6 small beets, preboiled and peeled
1 tbs horseradish
1 tbs sour cream
2 or 3 dashes of Tobasco
Method (reworded): Cover corned brisket with water, add pepper and bay leaf. Simmer the brisket over medium heat for 4 hours, but after 3 hours, add vegetables, except cabbage and beets. Before the last 20 minutes add cabbage, and before the last 10 minutes add beets. Remove corned beef, slice thin on the bias and lay out on a platter. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon, cut into 4 or more serving-sized pieces and spread on the platter around the beef slices. Serves 4.
Side sauce: mix horseradish, sour cream and Tabasco together.
My changes: I used a 4 lb brisket, used a whole cabbage that I quartered, 3 parsnips sliced in half lengthwise, 3 carrots also sliced in half lengthwise, 1 whole peeled rutabaga cut into 4 pieces, and I didn't add beets at the end (kept them separate). In addition to bay leaf and pepper, I added a few whole cloves (about 6) for amazing flavor and aroma!
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!
