whine & dine

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The first half of 2013 has been a rather interesting for me. Of the couple of projects that I’ve been involved with, the one that has been the most fun by far was a little spot of recipe testing that I did for Chef Jason Black’s new cookbook, Cow Pig Chicken, which is coming out at the end of this month. It’s due off the printing press on 29th May 2013, and will hit all major bookstores in Hong Kong very shortly after.

I first got to know the UK-born, South Africa-raised chef when, with a group of friends, I visited his new restaurant, The Salted Pig. The social media savvy chef first responded to a tweet I sent out into the big black hole that is the internet asking for recommendations on what to order there, and turned out to be a delightfully gracious host when we eventually showed up, late last year. He then went from being a Twitter friend to generous pork belly supplier and trusted advisor when I first made my foray into the world of bacon-curing, giving me all sorts of pointers with regards to flavours, methods, and even how to go about jury-rigging a smoker, and it is now such an honour to be able to call him my friend.

And, being a bit of an information junkie and food nerd, it’s always awesome to meet someone as knowledgeable as Jason. Apart from the time he spent sketching out the jury-rigged bacon smoker (that, unfortunately, has yet to manifest in real life /shakes fist at HK’s awful weather), I’ve also spent some awesome breakfasts and coffees with him picking his brains on anything from the differences in wet and dry aging beef to one of his hobbies – flying! (Yes, this man is also a licensed pilot. Ladies, for some strange reason, he’s still single, so if anybody wants to meet this catch, just give me a shout :P haha.)

But enough with all this (albeit well-deserved) flattery, and let’s get down to business. Knowing that I’m currently mildly obsessed with my adventures in curing, pickling and the suchlike, Jason decided to give me a couple of the slightly more complicated recipes to test out. And while the most interesting one that I made was definitely the Spice Cured Beef salad (a little hunk of tenderloin got coated in a mix of salt, sugar and some spices and hung out, vacuum-packed, in my fridge for 3 or 4 days, before getting thinly sliced and served up with horseradish and mustard and a gorgeous pile of home-pickled root vegetables), it was the Corned Beef that I had the most fun with. It’s not a difficult recipe by any means, but it does take a little bit of advance planning, since you’ll have to first make your brine, chill it properly, then ‘corn’ the brisket for 5 days and simmer it gently for 2-3 hours, before you’re finally able to tuck in. And once you do, you’ll be beating your dinner guests off the leftovers with a stick, since my favourite part of making this was the corned beef hash which I made with my leftovers. (See my recipe for corned beef hash here!) Also, because Reubens!

Jason has very kindly given me permission to reproduce this recipe on this site, so you guys will be some of the first to see this recipe, a good two weeks before it is slated to hit bookstores.

Written in a conversational tone and with plenty of jaw-droppingly gorgeous photographs by the talented Mindy Wong, this cookbook reads as though you’re hanging out with Jason in your kitchen and he’s talking you through some of his signature dishes from two of his wildly popular and successful restaurants, Shore and The Salted Pig, here in Hong Kong. And while it certainly won’t appeal to everyone – vegetarians and vegans, if you haven’t already realised, this post and this book definitely aren’t for you – I personally can’t wait to see the rest of the recipes, if those I got to test are anything to go by.

Cow Pig Chicken by Jason Black will be out early June 2013 in all major bookstores in Hong Kong, and will be retailing for HK$328. A portion of all sales will also go to the Foodlink Foundation.

PS: Stay tuned – I’m currently in the process of hammering out the details for a little giveaway, and should be able to announce this in my next post later this week!

Corned Beef
(from Cow Pig Chicken by Jason Black)

One thing to note: being a mildly last-minute (though never disorganised! ahem) cook, I almost never have the presence of mind to make a brine and chill it to the temperature it needs to be (i.e. properly cold) in advance. What I tend to do, instead, is to dissolve the salt (and any other solutes) in around half the amount of water (or as little as I can get away with), to which I add the remaining weight of water in ice cubes. This cools it down much more rapidly, and means I don’t end up having to wait half a day for it to cool, then for another few hours while it chills in the fridge. I’ve adapted the recipe method below slightly to include this step, but if you’ve got a big enough pot and are more adept at pre-planning your meals, then by all means just prepare your brine with the full amount of water!

For the pickling spice

2 tbsp mustard seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp white peppercorns
2 whole red dried chillis
1/2 a nutmeg
1 tbsp allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
4 bay leaves
1 tsp powdered ginger

For the brine

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 white onions, peeled and cut into quarters
4 celery ribs, chopped into chunks
1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
5 sprigs of thyme
1 cup kosher salt
4 tsp pink salt (Insta-cure no.1)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 batch of the pickling spice
3.5 litres water (or 1.5 litres water and 2kg of ice)
2kg prime graded brisket, cut in half

For cooking once it is ‘corned’

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
remaining 1/2 batch of the pickling spice
1 bouquet garni
water

Crush the whole spices, then mix with the powdered ginger. Set half the mix aside, and reserve for cooking the corned beef. Put the remaining pickling spice with the carrots, onion, celery, garlic bulb, thyme, salt, pink salt, and sugar into a pot with 1.5L water (see headnote). Bring to a boil over medium heat, let it simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and combine with 2kg of ice. Stir to dissolve the ice, and once all the ice is dissolved and the brine is well-chilled, put the two pieces of brisket into a non-reactive dish and cover with the cold vegetable brine. Cover and refrigerate for five days, turning every two days. Ensure the meat remains below the surface of the brine – use a plate to weigh it down if required. (Both Jason and I vacuum pack ours – it saves the hassle, and also reduces the risk of beefy brine spilling all over your fridge.)

After what seems like a lifetime of brining, remove the meat from the container. Discard all but the meat. Put the beef into a pot that holds it snugly; add the carrots, onions, celery, remaining pickling spice, and bouquet garni. Cover with water by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer (probably the lowest your stove will go). Cover with a lid; cook until the brisket is fork tender (2-3 hours), topping up with water if necessary.

Remove the brisket and vegetables and keep warm. Strain the cooking juices and reserve for reheating any extra meat. Slice and serve with mustard (homemade, if that’s how you roll heh), warm boiled potatoes, and sauerkraut if so inclined.

Yield: Serves 4, with leftovers for corned beef hash, or reubens.