The American Favorites section is where we have placed recipes for dishes that have become American favorites; these recipes are for foods that are enjoyed by many people throughout this great country of ours. In this particular section, I won't assign a specific part of the country as being the origin of the recipe.
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4 pounds corned beef 6 small carrots, scraped
2 pounds green cabbage, cored 12 small white onions, about 1 inch
and quartered in diameter, peeled and trimmed
12 to 16 new potatoes, about 1½ 6 medium-sized beets
inches in diameter, peeled 2 T finely chopped parsley
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Before cooking the corned beef, ask your butcher whether it should be
soaked in water to remove some of the salt. If it has been mildly cured,
soaking will not be necessary.Place the corned beef in a 5- or 6-quart pot and cover it with enough cold water to rise at least 2 inches above the top of the meat. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Half cover the pot, turn the heat to its lowest point (the liquid should barely simmer) and cook the beef from 4 to 6 hours, or until tender. If necessary, add more hot water to the pot from time to time to keep the meat constantly covered.
Cook the cabbage separately in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes. The potatoes, carrots and onions may be cooked together in a pot of salted boiling water of their own. The beets, however, require different treatment. Scrub them thoroughly, then cut off their tops, leaving 1 inch of stem. Cover them with boiling water and bring to a boil. Simmer the beets from ½ to 1½ hours, or until they are tender. Let them cool a bit, then slip off their skins.
To serve the dinner in the traditional way, slice the corned beef and arrange it along the center of a large heated platter. Surround the meat with the vegetables and sprinkle the vegetables with chopped parsley. Horseradish, mustard and a variety of pickles make excellent accompaniments to this hearty meal. Serves 6.
NOTE: In New England the vegetables, other than the beets, are often added to the simmering corned beef during the last half hour or so of cooking. For some tastes, however, the briny flavor imparted to the vegetables by the corned beef detracts from their natural flavors.
