Growing up, my dad loved to cook for our family. A decorated Korean War veteran, he and my mom were very involved in the Liberty, NY Veterans of Foreign Wars, cooking for all sorts of events. He often used those catering skills at home, as well.

Among my dad’s most secret recipes was one for corned beef/brisket. As kids, we were sworn to secrecy about how, exactly, Dad’s corned beef was made.

So, imagine my surprise when I discovered that, only four short years ago, my dad’s secret recipe wasn’t actually his at all!

It turns out that Ma Rinehart, a longtime family friend, was the originator.

Corned Beef

Slow-roasted corned beef brisket with a sweet and spicy brown sugar mustard glaze, roasted with oranges and carrots.

Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 290 minutes
6 servings
Gluten-Free
Sliced corned beef brisket arranged on a white plate, garnished with fresh herbs

Ingredients

Brisket

Corned beef or brisket 2-3 lbs
Pickling spice 2 tablespoons
Oranges 2 sliced
Carrots 2-3 large, cut lengthwise

Glaze

Brown sugar 1⁄2 cup
Gluten-free spicy brown mustard 1⁄4 cup
White wine 2 tablespoons

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Cut up oranges and carrots.
    Slicing an orange into rounds on a cutting board
  • Line a 5” x 9” pan with aluminum foil.
    Hand holding a sheet of aluminum foil
  • Lay brisket in pan, fat side up.
    Raw brisket on a foil-lined pan
  • Sprinkle with pickling spice.
    Sprinkling pickling spice over the brisket
  • Lay oranges on top.
    Orange slices placed on top of the seasoned brisket
  • Lay carrots on top of oranges.
    Shredded carrots layered over the orange slices
  • Tent with aluminum foil.
    Covering the pan with aluminum foil
  • Bake for 3-and-a-half hours.
  • Remove from oven.
  • Remove carrots and oranges. Pour out extra liquid.
    Cooked brisket with orange slices and spices in the pan
  • Mix brown sugar, mustard, and white wine together into a glaze.
    Mixing glaze ingredients in a small bowl
  • Glaze corned beef.
    Pouring glaze over the cooked brisket
  • Put pan uncovered back into the oven for one hour.
  • Remove from oven, place on cutting board.
  • Let rest 5 minutes.
  • Slice up and serve!
    Slicing the cooked corned beef on a cutting board

Notes

Slice against the grain for the most tender pieces of meat.

And while we’re tackling corned-beef myths, we might as well debunk the idea that corned beef and cabbage is the way they celebrate St. Patrick’s day in Ireland.

“Truth be told, corned beef and cabbage is about as Irish as a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake,” writes Debbie Lord with Cox Media Group National Content Desk. “What has become a tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day likely grew out of the fact that those foods were less expensive for immigrants who came to America. They substituted beef for pork and cabbage for potatoes,” (www.bit.ly/kimstpatty08).

Now, would you like to know how good this corned beef tastes?

I have a series of food allergies, particularly to gluten. I’m always saying that I’m the cake artist who can’t eat cake!

But I also have difficulty digesting red meat, a condition that developed after I was bitten by a tick a few years ago.

Nevertheless, whenever I make this corned beef recipe, I’m always tempted to chow down on a plateful, no matter what distress I might be facing later. That’s how good this is—so good that it shouldn’t be kept secret anymore.

Make some for yourself. I bet you’ll agree!


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