Most people boil their corned beef dinner. That’s perfectly noble and, provided you get to the parking lot early enough, can be done on gameday. But boiling meat is about as appetizing as eating ice cubes and calling it ice cream.
We prefer to make corned beef in a crock pot with beer. It takes longer – which means you’ll probably have to make it at home the day before the game (unless you have electricity and are over-nighting it in the RV parking lot).
But crock-pot corned beef is a low-intensity, full-flavored dish. Basically you chop your veggies and then just let the crock pot sit there all day while you’re off doing your thing (surfing porn, calling your bookie, drinking yourself blind at lunch … whatever). We think the meat just tastes better when cooked in a crock pot in beer.
The best part is that you can use the leftovers to make tasty
corned beef hash the following day.
Here’s how to do both crock-pot and boiled corned beef dinner (serves about 6):
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1 2 to 3 lb. corned-beef brisket
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1 12-ounce beer (stout or a full-flavored, hoppy beer)
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2 to 3 white potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
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6 carrots, sliced
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1 head of cabbage, roughly chopped
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1 yellow onion, quartered or eighthed
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6 boiling onions
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2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
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1 T. pickling spices
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(boiled version will require 2 gallons of water – assuming you can spare it, you cheap Mick – and ¾ cup of cider vinegar)
Crock pot version: Place potatoes and carrots in bottom of crock pot and then put corned beef on top of vegetables. Pour in beer. Add cabbage, onions and pickling spices. Cover and cook on slow (8 to 10 hours). When meat is done, remove from the pot and let cool for about 20 minutes. Slice AGAINST the grain, otherwise meat will be stringy and tough. Plate meat and serve with potatoes, carrots, cabbage and condiments of your choice. Mustard or cider vinegar is usually a pretty good choice.
Gameday option: cook everything a day ahead, slice the meat and refrigerate everything, including the liquid, together. It's important to keep the liquid. On gameday, pour everything, including the liquid, into a foil pan, place on your grill and cook until everything is heated through (about 15 minutes).
Boiled version: The boiled version can be done on gameday in your deep fryer. Simply add the 2 gallons water (or enough to cover meat) and ¾ cup cider vinegar to your fryer pot (make sure it’s cleaned of all oil residue). Add corned beef and pickling spices and bring to a boil. After boiling 10 minutes, reduce heat to low and simmer 2 to 3 hours, or until corned beef pulls apart easily with a fork. Remove corned beef from water, set aside and cool. Add potatoes, carrots and cabbage and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes. While veggies are cooking, slice corned beef AGAINST the grain. When veggies are soft, remove from the pot and serve with corned beef.
Store the leftovers in the refrigerator or cooler and turn into
corned beef hash the following morning.
