This recipe gives you the curing process and then the way to actually bake/cook the corned beef.

**For what it's worth, I would probably use the pink salt even though it now comes with a warning (what doesn't these days?).  I don't use pink salt for anything else, so I think we'd be safe ingesting it once a year!  BTW, pink salt is NOT the same thing as Himalyan Salt - not even close!
 

**IT TAKES 5 DAYS TO CURE, SO START THIS EARLY!


Vibrant pink, salty, and spicy, corned beef is always a welcome meal in our home, whether in a boiled dinner, with cabbage, or in a sandwich with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Who knew it was so easy to make? Corned beef is essentially beef cured in a salt brine, with some pickling spices for added flavor.


Then follow all the tips in this blog from March 1, 2020:  This Is Our Favorite Springtime Cut of Meat  

It’s time to think about corned beef. I make it precisely once a year. And I don’t mean merely unpacking an already-corned beef brisket, but actually making it myself. It is one of those cooking projects like making yogurt or pickles that are so passive that they seem nearly mystical. It’s not at all physically difficult but involves remembering to do it at least 5 days before I want to eat it and then obtaining a nice, well-marbled brisket of beef, which then becomes entirely something else when brined (AKA neglected) for several days in a refrigerator bathed in a salty, sugary, spiced bath.

Whether you’ve corned it yourself or bought it, cooking this beef is startlingly simple. A slow cooker is basically made for this job, but a large pot in a low oven works perfectly well. I add tons of cabbage, carrots, and onions at the end of the cooking time so that they hold their shape and a bit of their texture. All that’s left is to eat it in small portions in various ways over the next several days. (It also freezes like a dream, so you can pull it out for any of these leftover corned beef recipes.)

The curing salt, otherwise known as Prague powder or pink salt, is optional. I leave it out. Some people won’t touch the stuff and others are fine with it. You don’t really need an injector but if you have one, now’s the time to break it out.

Now onto the fun part: eating it. Corned beef and cabbage is one of my favorites this time of year. I am giving some to my downstairs neighbor who is sick, and serving some slices with the vegetables I cooked with it. Then I’m wrapping up the rest for later. It is too deliciously salty, rich, and carby. I love the flavor of the cabbage that has been cooking in the tangy beefy liquid.

I’m cutting way down on the beef this year and this super flavorful cut of meat can be used to make 10 meals from x to y, to z. I’m also planning to put a few blocks of tofu in the brine to see what happens to them.

The reuben, with its sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and pink thousand island dressing on rye, is the best of all sandwiches. I might use kimchi if I don’t have sauerkraut. Because the reuben is salty, cheesy, and carby, it is the perfect food to eat after going for a long run. I add a fried egg to mine and call it Sunday breakfast. And speaking of breakfast, try making this corned beef and spinach strata the night before for a delectable brunch.

-Heather Ramsdell
Editorial Director, The Spruce Eats


*** I WOULD NEVER ADD TOFU TO ANYTHING - YUKOLA.  And WHY on earth is she talking about cutting down on the amount of beef her family eats this year??  That makes absolutely NO sense.  Some people are just plain stupid about food, even though they think because they post a recipe for something, they're experts on everything.

I've got news for all those people . . . . . .