Adventures in Corned Beef

This little Irish girl has a lot of time on her hands. And after four years in Mexico, I decided it was time to have a real St. Patrick's day, corned beef and all. The only problem is that corned beef doesn't exist here. No worries. Now, I realize that St. Paddy's day isn't until tomorrow, but the corned beef has been corned, cooked and devoured already. You can take my word for it, it was awesome. Here is the recipe and the process in case you, too, get a wild hair and decide to spend 5-7 days making meat.

1. Find a recipe. I found mine at Cook's Illustrated. I only made a few changes. I didn't have allspice so I used equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg. I didn't have thyme so I used oregano. I didn't have sea salt, so I used normal salt. My food, my ingredients.

This is how it all began.


I bought beef brisket. What? Your meat doesn't come in a purple plastic bag? Weird.


Poke and rub the meat and put it in plastic baggies.


What? You don't have bricks just chilling in your backyard ready for impromptu corned beefing? Weird. PS You can then use the bricks to raise your washing machine or raise your car so your husband can change the oil. Just a tip.


Weigh the meat down with the bricks and flip once a day for 5-7 days. It helps if you are 8 1/2 months pregnant and have nothing else to do during the day besides flip a baggy of meat. Here is what it looks like after 6 days.


Yeah, I forgot to take a picture of it when it was done. What? I was hungry. I cooked it for a few hours in the crockpot but I wasn't satisfied so I moved it over to the pressure cooker and that helped it become nice and tender. Yes, I have a pressure cooker. I have two, actually. My Mexikitchen wouldn't be complete without it.

Accompany with the traditional carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. What could be better!?


It's also nice to have an Irish friend who makes Irish Soda Bread, Bailey's brownies and Irish flag sugar cookies. It made the meal.

Great, now I'm hungry.