Gluten Free, slow cooker, beer or apple cider, corned beef.
One of my March 2011 recipes for National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, now Beyond Celiac.
Growing up in London, England with both parents born in Southern Ireland, I never tasted American style corned beef until I came here. And quite honestly, I didn't care for it. I couldn't see the point of cooking the cabbage and potatoes in one pot (except for the convenience) since everything would taste the same. In fact when I made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's for about 50 senior citizens and cooked the cabbage separately, they all loved it my way. My friend Allyson passed on this recipe to me with the instruction to buy only a certain cut of corned beef. Allyson had discovered that Freirich corned an eye of round cut, that is quite lean, but cuts into beautiful rounded slices, no fat blobs of fat and gristle and uneven thicknesses of meat. I actually made this recipe with the flat point cut and then the eye round. Eye round is so much better. My local whole sale market had the eye round in January. My grocery store told me they would only carry eye round just before St. Patrick's. Plus Freirich actually label the package gluten free to make our lives easier. Locally I can only get Budweiser's Redbridge gluten free beer (actually made in the Merrimack NH plant where we live) or Bard's gluten free beer. I am not a dark beer drinker so I preferred the flavor Bard's gave to my stews. Cooking meats with beer is a traditional way of cooking meat in Europe and some sugar is normally added to counteract the bitterness of the beer. This mustard and sugar glaze is how I normally do my spiral ham. I’ve also cooked this with 12 oz hard apple cider and one cup water– normally I buy Woodchuck brand labeled gf. 6 x 12 oz bottles for $9.99, Amber variety.
About 3 lb of Freirich eye of round corned beef - www.freirich.com/recipe-category/traditional-corned-beef-recipes Freirich gf corned beef is on sale now at Market Basket, $1.69/lb ‘point’ cut (no idea what that means) and $2.99 flat cut. I would think more expensive cut is leaner. plus Thin and Trim quote gf on label.
1 x 12 oz bottle of Bard's gluten free beer or Woodchuck cider.
2 tbsp gluten free spicy brown mustard – Koops brand is labeled gf.
¼ c light brown sugar
1 c water
1 onion , peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely crushed
2 bay leaves
no extra salt or pepper
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1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch thick slices – I like to use a fluted cutter for more visual appeal and cut carrots into long wedges/strips.
½ lb peeled pearl onions (buy the frozen and allow to thaw)
1-2 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cut into thick chunks.
Gluten free Cornstarch mixed with cold water to thicken juices at the end. Argo's is labeled gluten free.
I find most pre-seasoned meats to be far too salty for me, so I remove the beef from the packaging, rinse off and then soak overnight in water to cover in the fridge. When you are ready to cook the beef, remove from water, rinse and then place in your slow cooker or oven safe casserole both with tight fitting lids. Or wrap lid in foil to stop evaporation, I hope.
Eat my Irish Cream no bake cheesecake with this. Last year on NH's ABC WMUR Cooks Corner.
1. Pour the beer and water around the beef, add the chopped onion, garlic and bay leaves. Mix mustard and brown sugar together and smear over the beef. I left a 3.16 lb of corned beef cooking for 6 hours in my 6 quart slow cooker on low. It didn't need any longer. In the oven, I cooked it at 325* for about 3 hours. Remember these timings are guidelines only since every slow cooker and oven vary. The lid must be tight fitting, otherwise the juices evaporate away and what is left is incredibly salty.
2. About 1 hour before meat is tender add sliced carrots, thawed pearl onions and potato chunks. I found I then turned my slow cooker up to high, low was not hot enough to cook the vegetables.
3. Remove the tender meat from the casserole and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes. This also gives you enough time to cook the vegetables longer if they are not tender enough.
4. I like to thicken the juices with some cornstarch mixed with cold water. The juices thicken nicely today, tomorrow the thickened juices usually need more water added and whisked well to make a visually attractive sauce.
5. Serve slices of corned beef with the potatoes, carrots and onions. Quarter, remove core and finely slice a head of green cabbage. Cook in boiling, lightly salted water for about 8 minutes until only just tender. Drain and return to hot pan with butter and some freshly ground black pepper.
