Newsletter # 26 – Corned Beef with horseradish cream sauce

I have previously mentioned our community dinners, that we hold five times a year. The October dinner, our most recent, was our nineteenth. That one was a little bit different as it had a theme –‘Retro’ and it was three courses instead of two.

During the four years that our social committee have been offering the dinner to our residents we have endeavoured to have unique menus for each dinner.  However, we have repeated corned beef and also the dessert, bread and butter pudding – both by popular demand.  I have been asked for both these recipes numerous times so I thought that I would feature the corned beef recipe today, before the weather gets too warm. The B and B I’ll keep for next year.

Corned beef

Corned beef has been around for many centuries and is quite common in not only Commonwealth countries but also in some parts of Asia, U.S.A, Israel and Polynesia.  Originally considered a delicacy, the process of ‘corning’ or ‘salting’ was indiscriminate when it came to choosing which cuts of beef were suitable.

Nowadays we associate corned beef or corned silverside with cuts of beef that require an extended cooking time either by boiling or pressure cooking.  Premium cuts such as sirloin, rump and fillet are best grilled or roasted.

The corning process can not only include the addition of salts and sugars but also nitrites.  Nitrites give corned beef a pink colour when it is cooked.  Often the flavour can be generic but individual butchers sometimes have their own closely guarded recipes.

In your kitchen at home, you can experiment with flavours.  I believe the recipe where the corned beef is cooked in ginger beer is quite popular.  My recipe uses ingredients you should have in your pantry.  For the beef you will need a suitably sized lidded saucepan.

Corned Beef

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Servings: 4 serves

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 kg corned silverside whole
• 1 large onion peeled and halved
• 70 ml white wine vinegar
• 50 g brown sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 3 thyme sprigs optional

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Place the corned silverside in your saucepan
   
3. Cover with cold water
4. Add the other ingredients to the saucepan
5. Lid the saucepan and slowly bring to the boil
6. Cooking time will vary but generally 60 minutes per kilo of beef is OK. The cooking time should start from the time you have a constant simmer at a low temperature setting
7. Check the short video on how to check if the corned beef is ready
8. The skewer will pull out under the weight of the corned beef. Take care, the water is hot
9. When the beef is ready leave it submerged in the lidded saucepan off the heat, while you prepare the horseradish sauce

Horseradish cream sauce

If you are game, you might consider making this sauce from scratch, but fresh horseradish being related to wasabi, is particularly pungent. The horseradish root can be quite large and has little aroma; however, the preparation process, which involves grating, can severely irritate your eyes and sinuses. So, for this recipe I use a pre-prepared, horseradish cream

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Course: Main Course, Sauces

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 40 g butter
• 30 g plain flour
• 400 ml vegetable stock
• 65 g horseradish cream
• 30 g dijon mustard
• 20 ml lemon juice
• 80 ml sour cream or cream
• parsley chopped (optional)

Method

 

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. Melt butter over low heat and add flour to form a roux. Cook gently for one minute
   
3. Take of heat and add stock. Whisk to remove any flour lumps. Bring to boil and then simmer
4. Whisk in horseradish, mustard and lemon juice. Return to simmer
5. Add sour cream
6. Adjust seasoning. Serve
   

Using up leftovers

Often cooking corned beef will mean leftover cooked meat. There are a number of ways to use the meat but in the meantime keep the beef refrigerated, immersed in cold stock for up to one week.

Corned beef and mustard pickle sandwich

This really needs no introduction. It has to be on fresh white bread (maybe lightly buttered) and the ingredients are in the name.

Reuben Sandwich

An American classic which is a favourite of mine. You could use your sandwich toaster (contact grill type) adjusted to a light press for this thick sandwich and serve it warm or hot. Ingredients can be adjusted to suit personal tastes.

Ingredients (per sandwich):

• Cooked corned beef, 100g in slices, gently warmed
• Rye bread, two slices
• Butter
• Swiss cheese, two slices
• Sauerkraut, 50g, slightly warm
• Dijon mustard, 10g
• Horseradish cream (condiment) 10g
• Mayonnaise, 25g
• Dill pickle, slices (optional)

Method /Assembly:

• Lightly butter both sides of the rye bread
• On your grill gently toast one side of your sliced bread.
• On the toasted side of both slices of bread place the cheese
• Next, either individually or mixed spread the mustard, horseradish and mayonnaise on the cheese
• On one slice of bread place a layer each of sauerkraut, beef and pickle and top with the second slice of bread
• Return the sandwich to the toaster and toast until golden brown
• Serve

Corned beef hash with poached eggs

Another tasty American dish that you rarely see in Australia. See my egg poaching technique from Newsletter # 14.

Ingredients (per person:

• 30g Butter
• 1 small onion, peeled, finely diced.
• 1 cup cooked potato, 1cm dice
• 1 cup cooked corned beef, ½ cm dice
• 5 Cherry Tomatoes, split
• Parsley, chopped
• Seasoning
• 1 or 2 poached eggs per person

Method:

• Melt the butter in a non-stick frypan and sweat onions for two minutes
• Turning up the heat a little add the potato and fry mixture until the potato starts colouring
• Stir gently to ensure even colour
• Add the corned beef and continue sautéing for a few minutes. Continue stirring
• Add cherry tomatoes
• Adjust seasoning
• Serve topped with poached eggs and sprinkled with chopped parsley