Food Goes In Mouth

I know, I’m a little late with the whole St. Patrick’s day recipe thing. I doubt the food blogosphere ran short of entries without my contribution. But hey, shouldn’t every day be St. Patty’s?

I spent the week leading up to this Irish Christmas at SXSWi and I couldn’t have asked for a better dinner on the big day than at III Forks with The Governors. However, I didn’t want to miss out on cooking some delicious “seasonal” food. And by that I mean: I’ll look for any decent excuse to buy a 12 pack of Bass and Guinness.

What I Used

• Corned Beef Brisket, Mild Cure, 3 lbs.
• Bass Ale, 2 bottles
• Guinness Draught, 1 bottle
• Baby Bok Choy
• Radicchio, chopped
• Shallot, finely minced
• White Wine Vinegar
• Corn Starch
• Butter

What I Did

1. In a dutch oven over high heat, brown the corned beef.
2. Add the Bass Ale, cover, and move to a 250°F oven for 10 hours.
3. Separate, thoroughly wash, and dry the baby bok choy leaves.
4. Reduce the Guinness over low heat until it has reduced to about 2 oz. Thicken with a little corn starch.
5. Melt a pad of butter in a skillet over medium heat, add the shallot, radicchio, and a splash of white win vinegar and cook for 1 minute.
6. Serve the radicchio mixture with the bok choy, topped with thinly sliced corned beef and Guinness reduction, as pictured above.

A couple hours into the corned beef braising I searched the interwebs to see if anybody else had a take on combining Black and Tans with Corned Beef. Sure enough, Barb Reese of Focaccia’s Delicatessen in Toledo, OH cooks a sandwich with these flavors and in much the same fashion. It sounds. Friggin’. Awesome.

The amount of corned beef I’ve cooked here is way more than used in the overall dish, but I’ve already eaten the leftovers in the time it took to write this.

I seriously warn you not to eat the radicchio mixture alone. It’s quite bitter. Well, I guess if you dig bitter food, go to town, it’s just never been my idea of a good time. But mixed with the salt explosion that is corned beef and the Guinness reduction, it isn’t bad.