Guinness Corned Beef: 2 days late and 2 dollars short

I have problem. Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite (well, one of my favorite) foods is I'm kind of embarrassed to answer. I have a reputation as a food snob (I am not though) though so perhaps if more people knew one of my top 5 favorite foods was corned beef, the reputation would diminish... slightly.

(Look at that! I bought a 6 pack for a recipe that requires 1 bottle. Not to worry, the other 5 found a good home)

I will eat corned beef no matter how it is cooked, and while some foods get haikus, corned beef deserves a full Shakespearean sonnet (Note: it deserves it, I don't have time to write it). Anyways, this is one of my favorite ways to cook a corned beef. Much like salt cuts down on the taste of bitter, I believe that bitter can cut down the saltiness of corned beef. Not that I would ever say that saltiness is a bad thing. Its too late to make this for St. Patrick's day, but seeing as corned beef should be on sale now, I say make it anyways. Because corned beef deserves to be made more than once a year. Or you ate all your corned beef at dinner and now you have no leftovers for sandwiches or hash. (Sob!) Oh, and you'll notice the recipe doesn't call for any vegetables. That's because they should be cooked separately from the beef and ideally, on their own. Three hours of cooking time is entirely too long for vegetables.

 

Guinness Corned Beef

  1 bottle Guinness (12 oz)

  1 cup brown sugar

  1 corned beef with spice packet

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix the seasoning packet with the brown sugar and rub all over the corned beef. (The bulk of the sugar should end up on the top). Slowly pour the Guinness over the corned beef, just enough to moisten the sugar, pour the rest into the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 3 hours. When the baking is done turn the broiler on. Spoon juice from the pan over the beef and allow to caramelize, repeat 3-4 times being careful not to burn. Remove from heat, allow to rest for 5 minutes and slice.