Corned Beef

We do two types of corned beef - a conventional cure and a nitrate free cure. Conventional cure brisket was our dinner the other night and it was really nice. My only criticism was that it needed to be saltier. One of our customers said that he found that the nitrate free wasn't salty enough either.  My sister Rita roasted a piece of the nitrate free silverside and said that it was really good like that. I roast the nitrate free pickled pork and roasting it keeps it lovely and moist. Does anyone else have any feedback?

When I cook corned beef, I like to cook potatoes and pumpkin/sweet potato in the same water as the corned beef. I then serve it with greens AND a white sauce, or greens cooked in white sauce. My mother does cabbage and carrot in white sauce, but I like just about any combination of vegetables. I cook the vegies first in lots of butter and then add plain flour and milk.

Combinations to try:

• onion, cabbage, kale, celery turnip and corn (this one)
• cabbage, onion and carrots
• pumpkin, kale/spinach
• broccoli, cauliflower

Choose your own adventure!

Let me know what you think about the saltiness of our corned beef - do we need more salt or is it just right the way it is?