Corned Beef Ribs revisited

For most people corned beef, potatoes and cabbage makes them think of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef is not even considered an Irish national dish. In fact, in Ireland today, the serving of corned beef is geared toward tourist consumption and most Irish in Ireland do not identify the ingredient as native cuisine. In the U.S. corned beef and St. Patrick's Day goes hand in hand and many come together over this meal in celebration. This is my interpretation of this traditional feast.

Corned beef ribs are something I started playing around with a few years back. I still use the same brine recipe I posted in my blog Corned Beef on a Stick. I did, however, change the cooking technique in this version.

I started out with some huge beef back ribs I found at Restaurant Depot.

They are then brined for 7 - 8 days in the fridge, turning ribs every day for even brine.





Ribs were removed from brine, rinsed, dried and cut into individual bones. They looked beautiful!

Time to cook these suckers! Traditionally, coned beef brisket is boiled in water with some spices until tender. I've done this in the past with my corned ribs and they were tasty and very tender. The problem with boiling process is that, in my opinion, too much flavor from the brining is washed away. This time I change my cooking process to try and reserve all that salty, spicy, corned beef integrity.

I baked the ribs at 360 deg. for 2 hours then covered with foil for one hour. The sugar from the brine caramelized the ribs nicely and most of the fat rendered away. The intense coned beef flavor was perfect!

These were the best tasting corned beef rib I have ever made. The baking of the ribs resulted in tender rib surrounded by a sweet, crispy, exterior with intense corned beef flavor! Now to complete the meal with the appropriate sides...

Colcannon potatoes:

I boiled yellow potatoes in water with some salt pork until they were tender enough to make mash potatoes. Then cabbage and about 5 clove of garlic were boiled in same water until tender. Potatoes and cabbage are then mashed together with the garlic, some butter, about 1/4 cup sour cream and salt and pepper. Throw in some sliced green onions and the shredded meat from the salt pork and you have it! You know me, I couldn't stop there - I put the colcannon mixture in small cast iron pan and baked until top was crispy... awesome!

Throw some sweet glazed carrots on the plate and you have a meal. Oh and PLEASE don't forget the beer!

Hope eveyone had a fun, safe, St. Patrick's Day!

Cheers!