What's cooking?

Yes, ShadowsDad, but where’s the cabbage?

I, too, love corned beef and I have been promised that when I visit my friend in Buffalo in April.  I’m hungry just at the thought.

I can take or leave boiled cabbage It's not a favorite because it's just too bland. I had one to cut up, but I far prefer carrots so the cabbage was left unmolested.

You can't find CB in SD? Heck, even if one makes it from scratch it's not hard to do. From scratch all one needs is salt and spices, a vessel (a poly bag will do), a bit of room in the refrigerator, and time. Salt cured CB tastes quite a bit different than the red type I cooked this time. It has a much beefier flavor. Different color though, it's grey, the color of boiled meat.

I can take or leave boiled cabbage It's not a favorite because it's just too bland. I had one to cut up, but I far prefer carrots so the cabbage was left unmolested.

You can't find CB in SD? Heck, even if one makes it from scratch it's not hard to do. From scratch all one needs is salt and spices, a vessel (a poly bag will do), a bit of room in the refrigerator, and time. Salt cured CB tastes quite a bit different than the red type I cooked this time. It has a much beefier flavor. Different color though, it's grey, the color of boiled meat.

Of course I can find it here in sunny San Diego but, frankly, it's too much for just me, even though, like you, I like it for leftovers.  I wonder if the cooked meat would freeze well?  Something to consider.

As for the cabbage, I would want it along with the potatoes and carrots.  I happen to quite like cabbage, whether it's boiled in the juices of corned beef along with the carrots and potatoes, rolled as stuffed cabbage, or shredded to make coleslaw.  I just find it versatile and tasty.

Yes, cooked meat freezes nicely. We do it all the time* and have for years. Better if it's vacuum sealed (for longer freezer life), but that's not required.

*In fact, when I Sous Vide steaks it's not unusual for me to cook 20-30 of them at once, and once done I freeze them. Then when we want a steak I'll pul out what I need, sous vide it just to thaw it and bring it up to temp'. It can't be distinguished from freshly cooked. But even before SV we froze pre-cooked meats.

I can eat boiled cabbage (I don't dislike it), but as I age I eat less and less at a sitting, so I choose only those things that I really enjoy.

Yes, cooked meat freezes nicely. We do it all the time* and have for years. Better if it's vacuum sealed (for longer freezer life), but that's not required.

*In fact, when I Sous Vide steaks it's not unusual for me to cook 20-30 of them at once, and once done I freeze them. Then when we want a steak I'll pul out what I need, sous vide it just to thaw it and bring it up to temp'. It can't be distinguished from freshly cooked. But even before SV we froze pre-cooked meats.

I can eat boiled cabbage (I don't dislike it), but as I age I eat less and less at a sitting, so I choose only those things that I really enjoy.

Thanks for that, Brian.  I have a vacuum sealer so shall definitely give this a try.  I was wondering, once I vacuum seal something, can I just boil the bag to bring the food up to edible quality or does it have to be removed from the sealed bag to be reheated some other way?

Yes, cooked meat freezes nicely. We do it all the time* and have for years. Better if it's vacuum sealed (for longer freezer life), but that's not required.

*In fact, when I Sous Vide steaks it's not unusual for me to cook 20-30 of them at once, and once done I freeze them. Then when we want a steak I'll pul out what I need, sous vide it just to thaw it and bring it up to temp'. It can't be distinguished from freshly cooked. But even before SV we froze pre-cooked meats.

I can eat boiled cabbage (I don't dislike it), but as I age I eat less and less at a sitting, so I choose only those things that I really enjoy.

Thanks for that, Brian.  I have a vacuum sealer so shall definitely give this a try.  I was wondering, once I vacuum seal something, can I just boil the bag to bring the food up to edible quality or does it have to be removed from the sealed bag to be reheated some other way?

Boiling and Sous Vide are two different things. I sure wouldn't want most meat after the outer layer was boiled back to life. I'd invest in an Anova unit, I used mine to cook frozen burgers in my bar with good success.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Since the corned beef has been boiled for hours to tenderize it, yes, boiling it in the bag will be fine to thaw and warm it with no change in quality. You could also put an individual serving size in a bag and have many bags in the freezer. You do not need a sous vide unit to bring CB back to life... Or pot roast, or any other item that gets cooked for a long time and isn't served "med' rare". I had a glut of hamburger the one year and made salisbury steaks with mushroom gravy. I put the entire lot up in individual serving vacuumed bags and they were great over the years. Since they were fully cooked they warmed up in a boiling water bath fantastically. We do things like that frequently.

A sous vide unit is only required for previously SV items so as not to overcook them. Such as the 20- 30 medium rare steaks that I SV periodically. They can't go into a boiling water bath without changing the doneness. But an hour at the same temp', or lower, that I cooked them at (129°F) for an hour, is fine to bring them around so that I can dip them into my treatment dip and torch them for dinner.

Since the corned beef has been boiled for hours to tenderize it, yes, boiling it in the bag will be fine to thaw and warm it with no change in quality. You could also put an individual serving size in a bag and have many bags in the freezer. You do not need a sous vide unit to bring CB back to life...  Or pot roast, or any other item that gets cooked for a long time and isn't served "med' rare". I had a glut of hamburger the one year and made salisbury steaks with mushroom gravy. I put the entire lot up in individual serving vacuumed bags and they were great over the years. Since they were fully cooked they warmed up in a boiling water bath fantastically. We do things like that frequently.

A sous vide unit is only required for previously SV items so as not to overcook them. Such as the 20- 30 medium rare steaks that I SV periodically. They can't go into a boiling water bath without changing the doneness. But an hour at the same temp', or lower, that I cooked them at (129°F) for an hour, is fine to bring them around so that I can dip them into my treatment dip and  torch them for dinner.

Thanks for the answer, Brian.

Doing up a batch of Buffalo hot wings right now in the oven.

Mussels, Fries and Beer.