Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds pork: shoulder butt or equivalent
Once you have the pork, make your brine. This recipe makes a gallon, which should be more than enough to cover two and a half pounds of pork. You only need enough of this to cover the meat you're brining: throw out what you don't use.
* 3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup boiling water
* 1 gallon cold water
* 1 tablespoon pepper
* 1 bay leaf
1 medium-sized cabbage
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Directions: |
Directions:Once you have the pork, make your brine. This recipe makes a gallon, which should be more than enough to cover two and a half pounds of pork. You only need enough of this to cover the meat you're brining: throw out what you don't use.
A stainless-steel bowl or resealable plastic bag can work as a brining container, as long as the pork is fully submerged. Weight with a plate, if necessary, to keep the meat fully covered by the brine.
Dissolve salt and sugar in the boiling water. Add it to the cold water; add pepper and stir to combine. Chill brine completely in the refrigerator before adding pork. Place your pork in the brine and place in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours.
When you're ready to start cooking, remove the pork from the brine, rinse well and pat dry. Discard the brine.
Place the bacon joint in a pot with a couple of bay leaves and a few peppercorns, cover with cold water and bring to the boil: then immediately reduce the heat to a simmer.
Remove any scum that floats to the surface. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours (or 30 minutes per pound, whichever is greater).
Fifteen or twenty minutes before the bacon is scheduled to be done, cut the cabbage into quarters and add to the pot. Cook gently for no more than twenty minutes or until the cabbage is just tender (whichever comes first).
Lift the cabbage out and drain: remove the pork and set aside to rest for five minutes or so before slicing.
Serve with potatoes boiled in their jackets, and a sharp sauce -- mustard or (if you can get it) Irish / British HP sauce. (The US variant is a steak sauce and won't work: if you can't get the real thing, don't bother.) A grind of nutmeg on the cabbage works wonders, too. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: This is the original, much-loved, much-missed dish that Irish immigrants of the nineteenth century were trying to make when they came to North America...and when they couldn't get the pork they really wanted, they made do with salted (corned) beef instead.
If Ireland really has a national dish -- which is another whole question -- this might just be it. You can get pretty close to the Real Thing at home, but you'll need to start a day or three early, and do a little extra work.
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This recipe for Irish Boiled Bacon and Cabbage is from