Trader Joe's Brought Back My Favorite St. Patrick's Day Find—It's Delicious

It's my go-to shortcut to corned beef beef.

I am zero percent Irish, I don't possess the lighthearted wit that comes along with being one, and I am not a drinker. However, I married a Quinn named after the Apostle of Ireland. So every St. Patrick’s Day, in an effort to contribute to our family's Irish American experience, I pull out all the stops. I make corned beef that takes five days to cure, soda bread from scratch, and the butteriest colcannon.

Sadly, for a few weeks, my family has been plagued by fevers and coughs—a little on the nose, wouldn't you say?—so I am looking for ways to simplify our St. Patrick's Day menu.

I must have the luck of the Irish because over the weekend I found out that Trader Joe's brought back its Corned Beef Brisket for a limited time. It's an uncooked piece of brisket packaged in a brine solution that's flavored with pickling spices.

All you have to do is take the beef out of the package and cook it low and slow for about four hours. It's almost entirely hands-off and saves me from having to cure the brisket myself. It's also so tender and delicious that I buy extras to keep in the freezer—who says you can have corned beef only once a year?

Cook It in Your Instant Pot

I'm a fan of cooking corned beef low and slow on the stovetop. It's a no-fail way to get the most tender meat. If you want to cook it faster, opt instead for the Instant Pot or any pressure cooker. Trader Joe's recommends 20 minutes on high pressure for each pound of meat.

Tips for Making Trader Joe's Corned Beef Brisket

Though cooking TJ's corned beef requires minimal skills, here are four tips that'll help you get the best results:

1. Rinse, rinse, rinse! The meat has been sitting in a salty brine, so chances are there’s excess salt on the surface. You should rinse the uncooked piece of meat under cold running water to remove the salt. This won't wash away any flavor—the meat is plenty seasoned.

2. Add enough water. Fully submerge the meat in water as it cooks, otherwise it'll end up dry and tough. Add cold water to the pot until it is covered by at least one inch. Add a lid and check the level of water once or twice as it cooks, and add more if necessary.

3. Cook it low and slow. I start the pot over high heat to bring the water to a boil and then immediately lower it to a simmer. If cooked at a boil for too long, the beef turns out tough and chewy. A low and slow simmer guarantees that it'll be soft and tender.

4. Slice it against the grain. Just like steak, slice the meat against the grain rather than with it. The grain is the lines of muscle fibers and cutting across shortens them and makes each bite easier to chew.
   

Read the original article on Simply Recipes.