Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage (circa 1880)

In the spirit of this St. Patrick’s Day, also an excellent meal to prepare anytime – I thought I’d share how they did it in the old days… which is how most recipes I’ve seen still advise to do it today.

My great grand parents emigrated from Ireland by way of England, stopping off there for a few years of farming before sailing the  pond and setting up a farm in Western Michigan.

I have the old family Bible, published in 1852 – 9″ thick version complete with a few hundred unprinted pages bound in the back for noting family events.  Here is where I found this corned beef and cabbage recipe that appears to be written in my great grandmother’s handwriting (with Gaelic slants) .

She calls for a ‘stout’ 6 quart cast iron dutch oven, but any large pot will do.  And a 4″ thick center cut of brined brisket – I use a 5-7 lb flat cut; nice portions for six to enjoy.

5-7 lb brined brisket

1 Large head of cabbage

1 lb of carrots

3 large parsnips

2 lbs of potatoes – scrubbed, not peeled (Russets, Idaho’s, Redskins; they all work)

Place the corned beef in a 6 qt pot, add just enough water to cover the top of the meat, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3 hours.  As you reduce the heat, add the seasoning packet that comes with the corned beef – pretty much the same spices she has listed in the recipe – but add a few extra cranks of fresh ground pepper.

Cut cabbage in to 8 equal wedges – peel and cut carrots and parsnips to 1 inch pieces, cut to potatoes in quarters – place each in separate bowls to await cooking.

Remove corned beef from the pot after 3 hours – fork should pierce through easy, but meat should have enough integrity left to not fall apart (and don’t dump out the water), place meat on platter and cover with a thick dry towel (they didn’t invent foil yet).

Bring cooking water back to a boil, add carrots and parsnips – boil hard for 10 minutes – add potatoes, boil for 5 minutes, add cabbage wedges, cover and boil for 10 minutes more or until you can pierce the cabbage with a fork easily and the outside leaves are still bright green (the issue here is not to boil the vegetables to mush) – remove from stove and set pot on a trivet on the counter – using a slotted spoon, remove vegetables to a large serving bowl.

Slice the corned beef, place slices in the pot water for 5 minutes to moisten again and warm – remove slices to a large platter and take the meat and vegetable bowl to the table.

Serve with white or cider vinegar on the side to splash on the vegetables.

That’s it – simple one pot meal that is about as nutritious and flavorful as you can get.

Pork Loin Slices and Jack Daniel’s

This just might be the best pork loin comfort meal I’ve prepared yet…

Base recipe was given to me by my friend Bob, a retired restaurateur now living in northern Michigan.  He prepared this at his restaurant every Tuesday and Saturday, and sold the place out, every Tuesday and Saturday.  And after making this for the first time yesterday… I understand why; no leftovers from this meal.

The ingredients below should serve 4-6 people, but you may want to double the batch right off so there are no disappointments for seconds and thirds – just sayin…  Note:  you can do 2lbs of noodles together (use 6 qt pot),  but do the meat, apples and sauce in two separate runs… put first completion in pot to “standby” then do second batch, blend together on low heat for a few minutes, let stand 5 minutes covered, then serve.

You’ll need:

3 lb pork loin sliced thin

2 cups apple cider

2 shot’s of Jack Daniel’s (must be Jack Daniel’s Sour Mash Whiskey)

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

4-5 medium apples of your choice, cored and sliced

1/2 cup heavy cream

kosher salt, fresh ground pepper

1lb (real) egg noodles (wide)

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Take pork slices and place between two pieces of plastic wrap, beat flat(er) with the side of a meat hammer – or other handy blunt instrument;

Fill 4 quart pot to 2/3′rds with water, add half a handful of kosher salt, bring to a boil and add egg noodles – when done (8-10 minutes), drain in colander – DO NOT RINSE.  Why? 1: you’ll loose the nutritional value of the noodles; 2: the starch remaining on the surface of the noodle will absorb the sauce yielding the incredible, unique taste of this recipe;

Heat large skillet (for this I use a 12 inch; 1810 stainless) to medium high; THEN pour in enough vegetable oil to coat bottom well (hot pan + cold oil = food does not stick);

Lay pork slices in skillet, salt and pepper each, brown well on both sides – hint: meat has a “release” temp; after 3-4 minutes, jiggle pan and lightly prod meat with tongs and the slices should come loose to turn and not stick – frying 3-4 minutes on each side will cook pork through just fine.  Remove cooked slices to plate, repeat until finished frying all pork slices  (you may have to add a touch more oil between batches).  When all slices are browned, set plate aside;

Raise fire/electric to high – add cider to de-glaze skillet scraping bottom as you go, add apples, brown sugar and Jack Daniel’s – bring to boil and reduce liquid by half (about 8 min);

Add cream, stir well and return cooked pork to skillet, coat meat with sauce – cover and remove from heat, let stand for at least 5 minutes.

Spoon pork slices, apples and sauce over egg noodles, and go for it.