Last night's dinner is one of my favorite! - A good old fashioned New England boiled dinner consisting of corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, onions, with a side of horseradish. Does it get any better than this? I've learned that most people either love corned beef or not - no middle road. I happen to love corned beef!!!
Corned Beef traditionally is a brisket cured in a brine solution of curing salts, regular salt, and pickling spices. Over the years I didn't think much about it - I just bought a Corned Beef at a store. Then I learned that a brisket corned beef can be the point or the flat. The point is fattier than the flat but then many believe that it has better flavor. Either way, a brisket corned beef is delicious boiled, roasted, or cooked low and slow.
A while back I picked up a corned beef at Costco without paying much attention to the cut. It turned out to be a USDA Choice Round Corned Beef. No big deal right?
A brisket corned beef and a round corned beef are from different ends of the steer. As you can see from the image below the Brisket is in the front and the Round is in the rear. Both cuts are the toughest parts of the steer since that's the muscles that get used the most. It's my understanding that the round corned beef is leaner than the brisket and is often used when making pastrami. All I know is that I prefer the round corned beef as it slices beautifully and tastes scrumptious.
