Ultimate Corned Beef And Cabbage - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 cloves
8 allspice berries
12 juniper berries (substitute 1 tablespoon gin)
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 lbs ice
1 (4 -5 lb) beef brisket, trimmed
1 small onion, quartered
2 large carrots, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 head cabbage, cored and cut in eight pieces

Preparation

Use a mortar and pestle, meat mallet, etc to break open the whole spices.
Place the water in a 6-8 quart stock pot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar dissolve.
Remove from heat and add ice, stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine in the refrigerator until it reaches 45\u00b0F.
Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2 gallon zip-top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat in a container. Place in refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is submerged and flip the bag.
After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place brisket in a large stock pot with the onion, carrot and celery. Cover with cold water by 1 inch, bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 2.5-3 hours until the meat is fork tender. Add the cabbage when the corned beef has 30-45 minutes left to cook. Bon Appetito.