The standard you’ll hear in my mother’s kitchen on how to cook corned beef is the slower, the better. This cut of meat comes from the brisket, right above the shank portion of the front leg of a cow. It is not particularly tender and cooking it quickly will result in shoe leather not fit for eating. Always cooked in water, many do it atop the range and some in a pressure cooker. This author recommends using your slow cooker or crock pot. When utilizing this method, you can prepare the entire meal in one pan and it doesn’t need watching.

What you put in the slow cooker with your brisket is important. When my mother taught me how to cook corned beef she always added mustard seed, coarse salt and a bit of dill to the water. I have adapted all of my mom’s tricks to my crock pot version. Just place the brisket in the bottom of the slow cooker and fill with water so the water is at least a full inch over the meat. Add in a cupped handful of mustard seed, one teaspoons of coarse salt and one teaspoon of chopped dill. Put the cover on, set it to low and let it cook for no less than fourteen hours.

An hour before serving, remove the corned beef and cover with foil. Place a head of cabbage cut in quarters with peeled carrots and onions in corned beef water in the slow cooker. You may even add some potatoes, if you’d like. Change the setting to high and cook for one hour. Serve with delicious stone ground mustard and a bottle of sweet apple cider vinegar. You now have a complete corned beef dinner prepared in one pot. Now that you have a recipe for to how cook corned beef, perhaps it’s time to learn how to cook beef cheek?



By: Sturat Mitchel

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Roast beef is one of the most popular meal or even as a snack for most people. It is simple and it clearly presents the distinct taste of beef. It may be served with any preferred sidings such as potatoes and vegetables for dinner, or simply between two pieces of bread for an uncomplicated sandwich.

Roasting is ideal when using large cuts of meat. For beef, there are a number of ideal cuts for this cooking process. The loin is a very tender part of the beef located behind the ribs, generally a more expensive cut, but is ideal for roasting. Examples of loin cuts are the tenderloin and tri-tip. Behind the loin is the round. The round section is generally tender, thus a common choice for most. Rump roast, especially the boneless rump roast, is most frequently used for everyday casual cooking. Before cooking, the meat should be at room temperature to make sure that during the roasting process the beef is evenly heated and cooked.

For seasoning the meat, this may simply be salt, pepper and/or garlic although the meat may be seasoned using either a marinade or a rub. A marinade is a solution where the meat is soaked for at least an hour or two so that the taste permeates through the meat and helps in making the roast beef tender and juicy. Others prefer marinating the meat overnight prior to cooking. Dry rub on the other hand, is simple a mix of different seasonings and herbs that are rubbed over the meat before cooking. Salt, pepper, basil, garlic, lemon, rosemary and thyme are some of the common seasonings and herbs used as rub.

A shallow pan is preferred for roasting. This ensures that the heat is evenly distributed on the meat thus, cooking it evenly. As in any cooking done in the oven, preheat the oven prior to cooking the roast beef. Cooking time is largely depended on the size of the beef cut. One may also consider the amount of fat and bone in the meat, as well the grade of the meat.

Though there are general rules regarding cooking time, a meat thermometer is a must to ensure that the meat is cooked to the preferred done-ness. For those who prefer rarely cooked roast beef, 9 minutes should be devoted per pound of meat with the temperature of the meat at 120-125