Corned Beef and Cabbage

Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage

Add the following to a large pot or dutch oven:

Reserved corned beef cooking liquid

2 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced

1 whole head white, green, or red cabbage, cut into 6-8 wedges (target 2-3 pounds total)

Water, until vegetables are submerged

Slice corned beef thinly against the grain and place slices into a skillet which is large enough to sit on top of the cooking pot. Add 1 cup of liquid from the cooking pot to the skillet. Cover the skillet and place it on top of the pot.

Bring the pot to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are completely tender and beef is heated through, about 45 minutes.

Serve immediately with hot mustard.

Fancy Corned Beef and Cabbage

For a fancier corned beef and cabbage, you can use the following strategy:

Make a carrot puree
Fry or roast potatoes
Prepare fancier cabbage:
- 1 small head + garlic + vinegar + mustard + dill seed + caraway seed + black peppercorns
- Fill a pot with water, bring to a boil.
- Halve or wedge the cabbage, sous vide all ingredients at 183F for 90 minutes
Fry parsley for garnish
To plate:
- Carrot puree on bottom
- large mound of cabbage and potato on top
- Dollops of carrot puree around plate or bowl
- Add chunks of beef
- Garnish with parsley

Reheat corned beef in a pan on top of the pot.

February 26, 2019

What have your concepts done for you lately?

Let everything be simple again

Our drive for knowledge and understanding
only makes the world more complex

what does it matter if you know all the facts?
what does it matter if the taxonomy is correct?
what does it matter if you use the perfect word?
words are only approximations,
they can never capture the essence

Intellectually understanding principles and truths
does not help you live them

all that matters is it
the whole of it
the living and breathing and doing
here in the present
crackling with the energy of life

Drop your concepts
your empty search for learning
give in fully to your own experience

February 22, 2019

Corned Beef

8 days before serving, prepare:

Corned Beef Spice Blend

1 whole flat or point cut beef brisket, trimmed according to your preference (5-8 pounds)

Combine in a small bowl and whisk until homogenous:

~5% salt by brisket weight (100g for 5 pounds)

0.5% pink salt by brisket weight (10g for 5 pounds)

Optional: 30g brown sugar

Rub the salt blend evenly over every surface of the brisket. Sprinkle the spice blend evenly over both sides of the brisket, pressing spices gently into the meat until they stick. Seal the beef in a vacuum sealed bag or a zipper-lock bag with all of the air pressed out of it. Place in coldest part of refrigerator and let rest for 7-10 days, flipping once a day.

1-2 days before serving, remove the beef from the bag and carefully rinse off all spices under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Optionally, massage the brisket with another batch of the Corned Beef Spice Blend.

Sous Vide: Re-seal in a vacuum bag and cook at 180°F until tender, about 10 hours. (See Temperature & Time for alternatives)

Dutch Oven: Preheat oven to 200°F. Place brisket in large Dutch oven, cover with water by several inches, and bring to a simmer over high heat. Remove from heat, cover with lid slightly ajar, place in oven, and cook until completely tender, about 10 hours. (See Temperature & Time for alternatives)

Once beef is cooked, transfer to an airtight container along with cooking liquid (if cooked sous vide, just store it in its vacuum bag). Let rest at least overnight, and up to 3 days.

Notes

You will have the best results with slicing the corned beef if it’s been cooled first.
Reserve the cooking liquid for corned beef and cabbage.
You can corn beef without the nitrites, but it won’t taste the same, last as long, or look the same.
The dry-cured beef has deeper flavor penetration and superior texture compared to the brined beef.

Temperature & Time

180°F cooked for around 10 hours is ideal, producing meat that was simultaneously tender and succulent.

180°F: 10 hours
175°F: 15 hours
160°F: 36 hours
154°F: 24 hours
140°F: 48 hours

If you want your beef flakier, cook it at a higher temperature for a shorter time. Prefer it more dense and moist? Try a lower temperature for a longer time.

With regards to moisture loss, at 160°F, about 30% of the brisket’s has gone out the window. Bring it up to 190°F, and we’re looking at 48% moisture loss. All the way up to 205°F, the temperature at which most people cook their beef (simmered on stove), and we’re at a whopping 53% moisture loss!

February 21, 2019February 6, 2021

Corned Beef Spice Blend

This spice blend is used in the Corned Beef recipe.

Coarsely grind in a spice grinder or mortar & pestle:

4 T coriander
2 T black peppercorn
2 T yellow mustard seed
1 T allspice berry
6 whole cloves
2 T ground ginger
6 bay leaves, roughly torn
1 star anise
1 T chili flakes

Notes

The spices can be changed to whatever you like
The main flavoring constituents of corned beef are largely derived from those used for pastrami: mustard, black pepper, coriander seed, allspice, and a bit of clove.
Fennel seeds work nicely

February 19, 2019April 7, 2026

A Quiet Morning Alone in the City

Observations During a Quiet Sunrise,
Alamo Square, San Francisco, February 2018

I see a man standing
silently
amongst the trees
all alone for just a moment.

His neighbors are still sleeping –
all except the birds –
chattering excitedly about
this stranger in their midst

I wonder what the man thinks about
from his high perch
as he watches the city
breathe into life
below him

Perhaps he contemplates
the ancient hills that backdrop
the city skyline.

Those hills once beckoned to man,
“Come and conquer me if you can!
We were here long before you
and we shall still be here
long after you depart.”

But the hills mock no longer.
Man has leveled,
scraped,
and straightened them,
planted his boxes of ticky-tacky,
strung congested highways
and piled towering landfills
wherever he pleases.

Standing there so still,
does he feel the weight of
the conquest, the pavement?
does he see the price of progress?

I turn away,
leaving a silent prayer
that this man
has conquered
his need to conquer
here
alone
on this quiet morning.

February 14, 2019

Roasted Bone Marrow

If you would like to remove the blood from the bone marrow, soak in salt water or cover with salt overnight.

Prior to cooking, rinse the bone marrow and pat dry. Salt the bone marrow liberally.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Brown the bones on the stove in butter over medium-low heat. Add thyme or rosemary to the pan to season the meat. Optionally, add smashed garlic cloves to the pan. Once the bone marrow is browned on both sides, baste the bone marrow with the pan butter and transfer the pan to the oven. Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The bone marrow is done when is bubbly and knife-tender all the way through. Reserve the bone marrow butter remaining in the pan for another use, such as cooking eggs.

Serving Options

Garnish with chopped parsley
Contrast it with acidic and refreshing flavors or accent its fattiness with something even richer
Pair with a small, sharp salad salad
- Parsley tossed in olive oil, lemon, and capers
- Substitute watercress or arugula for the parsley
- Use thinly sliced radishes
Bone marrow butter
- Let marrow bones cool to touch, then scoop out marrow.
- Add marrow, raw butter, sea salt, rosemary and parsley to a food processor. Blend until incorporated.
Onion, shallot, or garlic confit
Onion, shallot, or garlic marmalade
Anchovy butter
Glaze before roasting with miso, mirin, and soy sauce
Smothered and roasted with blue cheese (pair with shallot confit)

I skipped the soaking step, so there is blood in my marrow.

February 12, 2019April 7, 2026

The Great Teacher

I fill my hours
searching for Wisdom,
seeking the Way,
busy
with books
and talks
and meditation,
constantly overlooking
the great Master
who shares my home –

My dog,
who flows with the Tao
so effortlessly

Sleeping when tired,
Playing when energetic,
no worries of the future,
no regrets of the past,
living only in the Now.

How wise and serene she looks
perched in silent meditation
beside me.

February 8, 2019

My Wage

I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening when
I counted my scanty store.
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.

by J.B. Rittenhouse

February 7, 2019

My Objectives for 2019

There’s nothing the birth of a child to bring all of your previously held beliefs, plans, expectations, and goals crashing down around you. I recognize the luxury of my pre-child time: clear thoughts, optimized sleep, setting whatever schedule I want, being able to ignore my own health to achieve goals. I could maintain 10 projects, foolishly, because I had the time to dedicate to these projects.

I am no longer the center of my own universe. I’ve already noticed how I get much less done, and how everything seems to take approximately 15 million times longer that I expect.

One area of my life I need to simplify is the goals and tasks that I’m trying to accomplish. I decided that I can only afford to focus on five major objectives. Any tasks or projects which fit into these five areas will be prioritized, and everything else needs to fall by the wayside.

My primary objectives for the next 11 months are:

Support my family and spend time with them each day without using electronics
Finish my embedded framework:
- Deploy to two embedded platforms
- Sell to four clients
Write every day, and publish at least three times a week
Spend 30 minutes every day exercising, with the following fitness standard goals:
- 20 pull-ups in a continuous set
- 100 crunches in 2 minutes
- 100 pushups in 2 minutes
- 5 minute plank
- 5k run in 25 minutes
- 4 mile ruck march with 30 pound pack in 50 minutes
I want to nourish my family every day with food I make, and to focus on mastering/documenting 24 dishes

As I do my morning journaling each day, I have started taking a moment to remind myself of these five overarching goals and write down a note for how I intend to move them forward that day. By setting the stage up front, I notice that I’m actually focusing on each objective.

These objectives should correspond to 95% of what I spend my time doing. Anything else needs to fit into the other 5% – or not at all.

Curb your desire— don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need.
— Epictetus

February 6, 2019

Roast Lamb Shoulder

Prepare the spice blend:

3 T smoked paprika
4 T coriander seeds, crushed
2 T cumin seeds, crushed
8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
(Optional: 2T onion powder)
Salt + Black pepper

Lay out a large double layer of foil and place on top:

1 whole bone-in lamb shoulder (~3 kg)

Score the fat side of the lamb with a very sharp knife. Ensure your cuts do not reach into the meat.

Pour over the meat:

50mL olive oil

Rub the prepared seasoning over the lamb and massage into the meat, then drizzle with:

50mL red wine vinegar

Wrap the foil over the lamb shoulder to completely cover it. Refrigerate the lamb shoulder for 5-24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 250F. Place the lamb, wrapped in foil, on a roasting pan and insert into the oven. After 3 hours, remove the foil and baste the meat with juices. Cook another 1-2 hours to brown/caramelize the lamb exterior. The lamb is done when you can easily pull the flesh away from the bone. If the meat is still firm, continue to check on it in 30 minute increments. When the lamb is done, remove from the oven and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

While the lamb is resting, whisk together the dressing ingredients:

100mL buttermilk
20mL white wine vinegar
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
S+P, to taste

To serve, remove the bone and serve the shoulder whole at the table, with the dressing. Alternatively, you can carve the shoulder and serve on a platter.

Notes

Serves 6-8

North African Moorish-style spices are used for this lamb. This recipe benefits from an overnight marinade.

You can make this lamb in the oven or on a barbecue.

Uses for Remaining Meat:

Lamb Pasanda Curry with Dal
Pulled Lamb Shoulder w/ pickled fennel and cabbage