Comments on: Corned Beef

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:27:17 +0000

Great Pub Night at the Jenner Community Center (Look for the signs – can’t miss it!) – Tuesday the 17th from 6 – 10 PM. Traditional Irish live band and, of course, corned beef and cabbage. $5.00

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:06:35 +0000

Despite having a very Irish first name, I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me, and yet, I have eaten corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day all my life. My parents made it every year (both excellent cooks to this day), and so I made that a tradition for my kids and family.
I always boil it, but experimented a couple of years ago with the crock pot with great success. This year I’ll experiment with the pressure cooker.
TThis year we’ll feast on the corned beef and cabbage with carrots topped with a horseradish dill sauce (well, I will, my husband prefers mustard), warm potato salad with beer dressing, a couple of Irish cheddars as an appetizer, (one infused with whiskey!), and slices of Irish soda bread smothered in Irish butter. Washed down with pints of Guinness, of course.
And maybe some mint chocolate chip goat milk ice cream for dessert.

By: BiteClub

BiteClub — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:42:58 +0000

Both England and Ireland do, in fact, have some amazing chefs and the old adage about bad food isn’t totally fair. Like most “imported” cuisines (Chinese, Mexican, et al), they suffer in the translation to becoming “Americanized”. Hence the aversion factor.
Thanks for the comments Wulfstan, Irishgal and Pendolino. Your insight is well-appreciated.

By: Pendolino

Pendolino — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:09:35 +0000

Second your comment about Irish food. They have always had a wealth of ingredients, including the finest of fish, dairy products, and some fruits and vegetables. They exported most of it, mostly to France, and imported French technology. In fact, a lot of their dairy products and fish end up in Paris–three days later. Their smoked salmon is some of the best in the world. A lot of their chefs are French-trained as the Irish and the French have always had kind of a symbiotic relationship. They both considered themselves literate people, they were both doing revolutions at about the same time, and they both detested the English.

By: Irishgal

Irishgal — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:09:42 +0000

If you haven’t been to Ireland recently, maybe you should. The food is great – big improvements with some top-notched chefs, male and female.

By: YourWaterGuy

YourWaterGuy — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:27:40 +0000

I have cooked Corned beef and cabbage for 200 for many years as a fundraiser and always braise the meal. My key was not to cook it too long. Also main secret was to buy corning spices from a place like Penzey’s Spice House and liberally add more spices to the braising pan of meat and veggies and cover well. This would work (adding spices) even for a boiled dinner and I think may be the way to make it supurb rather than washed out blah.

By: Wulfstan

Wulfstan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:20:28 +0000

I am glad to see you setting people straight on the “corned beef” issue. I want to add that in reality Irish, English, and Scottish cuisine can actually be very good if prepared correctly. British/Irish food is amongst my favourites, but, like traditional American cuisine, it has gotten an unjustified bad rap, is misunderstood, and largely a mystery to most people, especially here. This is a problem compounded by the fact that most people seem to think, erroneously, that they in fact do “know” what these cuisines are like. Most Americans don’t even seem to know what real, traditional American regional cuisines are like and they have even less understanding of the British/Irish cousins of American cooking. An example of a mere name confusion that has been raised is “bread pudding,” a term that Americans seem to use for a dish that is closest to British bread and butter pudding, only one type of “bread” based pudding in the British Isles, typically all merely called “pudding” but actually very different. These include bread and butter pudding, guards’ pudding, plum pudding, and many more. Irish/British cookng also has significant regional variation and I would point out that oatmeal and scones really are tradionally Scottish, not Irish. These cuisines and people, though related, should most definitely not be considered synonymous.

By: Wulfstan

Wulfstan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:03:16 +0000

To Marilyn/MJB: a ramekin is a small bowl, generally ceramic, and typically used for making small-sized/individual servings of puddings, souffles, casseroles, etc. It’s typically for any dish that would be otherwise be finished and served in a pot, casserole, or other deep dish.

By: PTownFan

PTownFan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:52:10 +0000

After a half century of taste testing, you cannot beat Petaluma Market’s corned beef. For a few delicious weeks each March, they make it themselves. So easy to make. Put it in a pot with several Tbsp of Morton and Bassett pickling spice, toss in some yukon gold potatoes and carrots for the last half hour or so. Braise some thinly sliced brussels sprouts in some browned butter with a pinch of salt instead of boiling cabbage to death. Yummmmmm.

By: St Baldrick

St Baldrick — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:42:10 +0000

Legends at the Bennett Valley Golf Course put out a great corned beef buffet on Friday night for the Police and Fire St Baldrick’s Event. They did a big fundraiser for children’s cancer research where a bunch of people raised money and got their heads shaved. It was a great time and the food was REALLY good!
I saw a sign that said they are going a corned beef dinner tomorrow night for $9.99. Not a bad price.
As for the fundraiser, you can still donate at http://www.stbaldricks.org, look for Santa Rosa.