Irish Spiced Beef

 

Aunt Kate always said don’t be in a rush to make this dish, as it’s best if you start it a week in advance because the marinade has to seep into the meet slowly. Spiced beef was always her go to dish for Christmas. She said to serve it with potatoes of any style, but mashed was always preferred, throw in a simple salad and some horseradish mustard on the side along with some good rye bread, homemade is preferred but if you can get a good Jewish Rye at the bakery, go for it. This dish is great as a main course or sliced thin for sandwiches. I like it both ways.

Ingredients

• 1 fresh beef brisket (6 pounds)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 4 bay leaves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 4 medium onions, sliced
• 4 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 2 cups stout or beef broth
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 3/4 cup coarse sea salt
• 3 teaspoons pepper

Directions:

Place beef in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan; rub with brown sugar. Refrigerate, covered, 24 hours.

In a small bowl, mix salt, chopped onion, bay leaves and seasonings; rub over beef. Refrigerate, covered, 3 days, turning and rubbing salt mixture into beef once each day.

Preheat oven to 325°. Remove and discard salt mixture. Place beef, onions, carrots, celery and stout in a roasting pan. Add water to come halfway up the brisket. Roast, covered, 4-4-1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Cool meat in cooking juices for 1 hour.

Remove beef; discard vegetables and cooking juices. Transfer beef to a 13x9-in. baking dish. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.

Cut diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with rye bread, cheese and mustard.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Ashford University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week. 

Irish Fare, Potpourri of Frugality. Kilbride