The Kidlet came home from her cooking class with half of a fairly hefty head of cabbage a couple weeks ago. I wasn't really feeling the cabbage roll casserole or coleslaw, so I've been casting about for another recipe that would use it up. I liked the look of this boiled dinner as a simple, one-pot meal, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Sadly we didn't have any brisket left in the freezer, so I didn't end up making my own corned beef for this. (Maybe next time.)

I actually couldn't find any corned beef (that wasn't out of a can), so I ended up getting a piece of "pastrami-style" brisket instead. They're similar. The pastrami is just more highly seasoned and made from a fattier piece of brisket (and is normally smoked and steamed rather than boiled).

It would have been nice to have had the leaner corned beef for this dinner, but the pastrami still worked very nicely. And TF definitely appreciated how tender it was!

This is a great, simple dinner. Just be aware that you will need a fairly large pot to accommodate all the ingredients. I only had half as much meat and ~75% as many potatoes as I was supposed to and my Dutch oven was still on the verge of overflowing! So, if you don't have a very large pot available, you may want to halve the recipe and make a smaller batch.

Boiled Dinner

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (1.5-1.8kg/3.5-4 lb.) corned beef brisket¹
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 5-6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 6 large or 12 small carrots, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic (optional)
• 3-4 onions, cut into wedges
• 900g (2 lbs.) new potatoes
• 1 small green cabbage, cut into wedges
• 1/2 c. sour cream²
• 1-2 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
• black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives (optional)

Directions

1. Place the corned beef in a large pot and add enough water to cover it by 2-3cm.
2. Bring to a boil and skim any foam off the surface.
3. Reduce heat; add bay leaves, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns; cover; and simmer until meat is somewhat tender and has reached an internal temperature of at least 70°C/160°F (2-3 hours³).
4. If your carrots are large, cut them into smaller chunks. (If they're small, they can just be peeled and left whole.)
5. Add the carrots, garlic (if using), onions, potatoes, and cabbage to the pot.
6. Increase heat to quickly bring the mixture back to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and continue to simmer until potatoes are fork tender (~30 minutes).
7. Meanwhile, stir the horseradish into the sour cream and season to taste with pepper.
8. Stir in the chives (if using).
9. Once the vegetables are done, remove them with a slotted spoon.
10. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and slice.
11. Serve the meat and veggies together, passing the horseradish sour cream at the table.

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¹ If you'd like to make your own corned beef, here are the instructions:

Combine 8 cups water, 1 1/2 cups kosher salt, 1/2 c. sugar, 3 Tbsp pickling spices, and 3 cloves garlic, crushed.
Stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
Submerge the brisket in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for 5-8 days.
Remove the brisket, rinse, and proceed with recipe.

I didn't end up trying this approach this time (hence why it's down here in a footnote). If I ever do, I'll give it its own write-up in a separate post. I just wanted to have it recorded somewhere in the meantime. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 1 c. of heavy cream here. You were meant to whip the cream and then fold in 3 Tbsp. of horseradish. TF didn't like the sound of that, so I swapped in some sour cream instead. It was delicious on the beef and went great with the potatoes too! ^Back
3 I was working with a much smaller piece of meat, so mine had already cooked through before it'd even reached the 1-hour mark. Adjust your cooking time as needed based on the size and shape of your brisket. ^Back

Apparently "barm brack" is Irish for "yeast bread". It's a rich, fruity bread full of butter, eggs, sugar, raisins, and candied fruit. It reminds me a bit of hot cross buns in loaf form.

I had a bit of trouble judging when these were done. I'm usually pretty good with that sort of thing, but I think the quantity of inclusions threw me off a bit. It was still tasty, the crust was just a bit thicker than it should've been because I didn't realize that I'd pulled it out of the oven too soon until after it had already cooled significantly. Other than that though, this recipe worked out very well. (And the Kidlet absolutely loved it!)

Barm Brack

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) or all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 1/2 c. mixed peel or mixed candied fruit
• 1 tsp. sugar dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Combine 180g flour with sugar, salt, lemon zest, and yeast.
2. Combine butter, water, and milk and heat to ~50°C (~120°F).
3. Add the hot butter mixture to the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon or the flat beater of a stand mixer for ~2 minutes.
4. Add the eggs and another 100g of flour and beat for another 2 minutes.
5. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook at this point and continue adding flour ~1/4 c. (~30g) at a time until dough comes together into a shaggy mass.
6. Turn out onto counter and knead by hand for 10-15 minutes (or continue working with dough hook in stand mixer for 2-4 minutes).
7. Add a little more flour or water as needed during kneading in order to get a nice, smooth, relatively soft dough.
8. Round the dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 45-60 minutes.
9. Knock back and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
10. Work in the raisins and the candied fruit.
11. Divide dough into two equal portions and round each one.
12. Cover and rest for 5-10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, grease two loaf 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
14. Flatten each round, letter fold, roll up, and place each loaf seam-side-down in one of the prepared loaf pans.
15. Cover and allow to rise for another 45-60 minutes.
16. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
17. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~40 minutes.
18. Remove loaves from pans and return to oven without the pans for 10 minutes.
19. Brush loaves with sugar glaze and return to oven for another 2 minutes.
20. Turn oven off and allow loaves to sit in hot oven for another 5-10 minutes.
21. Transfer to wire rack to cool.