Spicy Corned Beef

I have made this for St. Patrick's Day every year that I have had access to my cookbook sine I got it in 2003. It's an awesome cookbook, bought back when I had extra money laying around to buy frivolous things like cookbooks. Ha. I bought the 2003 Holiday & Celebrations cookbook AND the 2004 but then in 2005 I met Reece and started spending money on a wedding instead. Pretty good trade don'tcha think? Now I don't really care. I'm more into family or church cookbooks. Or ones that Reece gets from truckstops 'cause he's bored. :D I wanted to get these recipes up soon enough so you could make them for supper tonight if you wanted... but life happened. And I have a phone that rings.

I rinsed off my corned beef. Just 'cause. I really didn't like the looks of the slimy stuff that the meat was packed in. Yeah it says you're supposed to cook in in that... but I'm adding my own good flavors to the stuff so I don't need all their weirdness, thanks.

You need 3 lbs. of corned beef, onion, carrot - if you can eat it-, celery -or celery seed if you're like me and you're out of the real stuff. *sigh*- and pickling spice. Stick all that stuff in your dutch oven and start boilin' it!

I only make half a recipe 'cause we don't need 6 lbs. of meat to feed the carnivores at my house. So if you need to feed lotsa people double it back up again. :D I'm just talking here to use up some time while my pot comes to a boil ya know...

There. It's boiling. Now cover it and don't let it boil over on your stove. Dutch ovens get really mad when they start boiling over. Mine had a hissy fit and threw water all over the world yesterday just before I took this picture. Scared my eldest daughter. Let it boil for several hours, until the meat feels tender when you stick it with a fork. While you wait, mix together the brown sugar and mustard.

When the meat is tender, place it in a baking pan and spread the brown sugar mustard over it. Pardon me... I read the directions wrong and started scoring the wrong way and then started doing it the right way so I ended up with weird chunks of meat falling around. Then dump on some sweet pickle juice and stick it in the oven.

Bake it at 325 degrees for an hour. And don't be dumb like me and start reading things online and talking on the phone to a bunch of people and forget to baste it once in a while. Oh yeah. You should also take it out of the oven WHEN THE TIMER GOES OFF not a half hour later.

Here's the recipe:

1 (3 lb.) corned beef brisket
1 small onion, quartered
1 small carrot, cut into chunks
1 celery rib with leaves
1 T. pickling spice
1/4 C. packed brown sugar
1 T. prepared mustard
1/4 C. pickle juice

Place corned beef in a dutch oven and cover with water. Add the onion, carrot, celery & pickling spice. I actually didn't HAVE any pickling spice so I just used the packet that comes with the brisket. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2  1/2 - 3 hours or until the meat is tender. Transfer to an 8X8 pan. Score the meat with shallow diagonal cuts. Combine the brown sugar & mustard and spread over the meat. Pour the pickle juice over it and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, basting occasionally. YUM-E.