Guinness Braised Corned Beef with Whiskey Glaze

Guinness Braised Corned Beef recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Serves: 30 small plates

An elevated braised corned beef recipe using a paired preparation of a spiced Guinness stout braise and a whiskey mustard glaze finish. Served over garlic mashed potatoes and accompany with roasted carrots and brussels. Specially infused with clove to pair with a spicy cabernet.

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Paddy Day’s Pride

As we chose to do this wine pairing party on St. Patrick’s day, this dish was the star of the event. A corned beef dish was insisted upon, the trick was to get it to pair well with a wine. The stout braising provides a lot of caramel flavor to the dish, but it is the deeper spices that really help pair the wine. Extra clove in both the braise and the glaze enhance the flavors of the cabernet that was chosen. But beware, not all cabs are alike. If you choose a different wine, consider adjusting the spices accordingly.

Wine Pairing

Original Pairing: Michael David Freakshow Cabernet

General Pairing: a robust cabernet or zinfandel. Also consider beer.

Menu Overview

Specialty Ingredients

Corned Beef
I like to use a premium flat cut piece. With a bit less fat in the mix, it doesn’t shrink down as much.

Guinness Stout
This is my standard go-to stout as I like it as a drink and for cooking. I prefer it in the bottle over the can if you have the option.

Gluten-free beer alternative
Most beer has glutens, so if you are very sensitive to that and need to avoid it completely, you can try using a gluten-free beer. There are many options out there.

Equipment

Dutch Oven
I used a basic enamel coated cast-iron Dutch oven with a fitted lid. I don’t have the fancy $400 one, just a basic one that does the job. If you do not have one, you can use other means such as a crock pot.

Standard Baking Sheet
You may want to have a couple ready-to go and lined with parchment. You will use this to glaze the meat as well as roast your vegetables.

Parchment Paper
This is liner for the sheets and will save you from awful sticky mess.

Basting Brush
I prefer using silicon brushes. They take the heat well and don’t shed.

Planning the dish

This is definitely a make-ahead dish as the braising requires several hours. That said, you can make the braised corned beef and the glaze several days ahead and freeze. However, the accompanying mashed potatoes and roast vegetables are best made the day your are serving.

Timing the Elements

1+ Days Prior: plan to braise for several hours. This can be done several days ahead (to freeze) or the day before and refrigerate. Be sure to save the braising liquid.

1 Day Prior: You can make the glaze sauce ahead or wait until the day you use it. I doesn’t take long, but if I like to have all my sauces prepped so I can just quickly reheat. If you froze the braised corned beef, you will need to defrost.

Day of Event: Prep all your veggies early.

1 hour to Serve: Make mashed potatoes (as they are best made fresh). Roast the carrots and brussel sprouts. Allow 10 min for cooling down to plate.

30 min to serve: Cut beef into serving sizes and m ake or warm up glaze. Baste beef with glaze.

15 min to serve: Heat beef to get the glazingn effect just before serving (takes about 10 min). Make a sauce of leftover glaze and braising liquid.

Serve: Plate everything together just before serving. Serve warm.

Plating Tips

This dish has a lot of visual options for plating. The method I used was to put down mashed potatoes in the center of the plate first. Make a shallow well in them. Add corned beef and drizzle a little of finishing sauce over top. Then add roasted carrots leaning again the meat. And roasted brussels along side.

See Resources for more plating supplies

Pairing Alterations

Here are some ideas to help find tune your pairing:

Spice Mix
Clove is a key spice played up in this dish to help it pair with the wine. But you can pull back and play up some of the other spices instead, depending on your wine. Cinnamon or ginger can be a focal point.

Lighten with Lager
If the stout is too strong a flavor element for you, you can try a lager beer instead. I would offset this with adding in some Worcestershire sauce and garlic cloves.

Recipe

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Guinness Braised Corned Beef with Whiskey Glaze

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 4 hours 10 minutes
  • Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes
  • Serves: 30 small plates

Slow cooked corned beef in a stout braise with spice and caramel flavors. Finished with a mustard whiskey glaze.

Ingredients

Braised Beef

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4-5 pound corned beef brisket
  • 1 large onion, roughly sliced
  • 2 cups baby carrots
  • 1 packet pickling spices, from brisket package
  • 1/2 Tbsp whole mustard seed
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 cup beef stock
  • 2-3 bottles Guinness Stout, or simliar stout

Whiskey Glaze

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp grainy mustard
  • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/8 cup whiskey, can sub bourbon/rum
  • 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground clove

Instructions

Braised Beef

    1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
    2. Pat dry beef brisket with paper towel.
    3. Heat a large Dutch oven pot over high heat. Once the pan is hot add olive oil.
    4. Quickly sear the brisket in the Dutch oven on both sides until golden brown. I usually start with the fat side first to keep the pan well oiled.
    5. Take out brisket and turn down heat to medium.
    6. Add onions, carrots to pan and stir. Let cook for 2-3 minutes.
    7. Then add garlic and spices (include any pickling packet spices given). Stir and let the spices heat up a minute.
    8. Add in stock and scrape all the bits sticking to the pan into the liquid.
    9. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve.
    10. Once liquid has heated up to almost boiling, add brisket back in fat-side up.
    11. Carefully pour in 2 bottles of Guinness stout until brisket is nearly covered (its ok to not use all of it – or maybe use more. It depends on how large the dish you are using is.
    12. Let liquid come to a boil. Cover with lid (or double foil) and move into 300 degree oven to braise.
    13. Braise for 1 ½ hours, then flip over brisket. Braise an additional 2 hours (should be fork tender).
    14. Carefully remove meat from pot in large pieces if you can.
    15. Take about 1 cup of liquid out and strain it. You will use this to make a sauce after you glaze, you can also set aside more if you really like a l
    16. Cut the corned beef into the desired serving size pieces.

Glazing

    1. Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until bubbling.
    2. Heat oven 425 degrees
    3. Place the cut corn beef pieces on a parchment-lined oven sheet (with a rim). You will be thankful of the parchment lining in a moment.
    4. Use a basting brush to brush on the glaze on the top and try to get the sides as best you can.  If it is all dripping onto the parchment, you can use short strokes to push it back up the sides.
    5. Bake for 5 minutes, then coat the corned beef with a second layer of glaze. Continue baking for an additional 5 minutes. (Instead of baking, you can also broil the glaze for 5-6 minutes total – don’t let it burn).
    6. You should have leftover glaze sauce. Add the strained broth to the glaze sauce and boil for about 10- 15 min to reduce for a serving sauce. It should be thicker, but not a gravy. You can add a thickener if desired (1:1 ratio of cornstarch to water) – add about 1 TBS, boil for a minute, then add more if needed in 1 TBS increments.

Notes

Gluten-free alterations

Traditionally, beer is make of barley, which has glutens. To make this gluten-free you can omit using any beer (add more beef broth) or use a gluten-free beer.

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