Guinness-Soaked Corned Beef with Rosemary

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Wash and roughly chop the celery, carrots and onion. Arrange them in the bottom of a large baking dish (one that is big enough for the brisket too).

On top of the vegetables, place the corned beef brisket fat-side-up. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross-hatch pattern into the top of the fat layer.

Chop the garlic and rub it into the top of the meat (try to get some into the cuts on the fat). Tear up the herbs (rosemary and thyme), and sprinkle some on top of the meat and place the rest of the herbs in the pan with the vegetables.

If the corned beef you bought comes with a spice packet, sprinkle the spices over the top of the corned beef.

Season the beef well with herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Add 1 of the bottles of Guinness to the dish.

Bake, covered, at 350ºF, for 3 hours. Then add the second bottle of Guinness and continue to cook for another 3 hours.

This corned beef comes out fork-tender and very flavorful. The liquid can be made into a gravy easily by straining it, adding 1 cup of beef stock, and using a corn starch slurry to thicken. However, the vegetables are used for flavoring, NOT to serve with the meat—they are too mushy and soak up the more bitter flavors from the beer.

The corned beef can be made up to 2 days in advance, if wrapped well and stored in the fridge. Not only does this save you time later (especially if you’re trying to have corned beef for dinner after working all day), but it also gives you a chance to chill the liquid down and pull the fat off (the fat floats to the top and solidifies). The beef was super easy to thinly slice when it was cold; once sliced, place in an oven-safe serving dish with a ladle of the liquid, cover, and bake until hot (approximately 30 minutes) at 300ºF.

Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy, braised cabbage and roasted vegetables.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!