Corned Beef / Silverside

This is a great winter meal, and also fantastic, if you want to torture those in your place with the smell of simmering Silverside for a decent hour or so.

Ingredients:

• Corned Beef/Silverside – with plenty of fat on it. (the more fat, the better the flavour – don’t worry, you will trim off the fat later.
• 7 cloves (I just use a handful usually)
• 10 peppercorns (small handful again)
• 2 bay leaves
• tea spoon of brown sugar
• tea spoon (cap full) of vinegar

For the sauce:

• Table spoon of butter/margarine
• Table spoon of plain flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of grated cheese

Step 1: In a large pot, place the silverside (fat side up) in the pot and pour warm water into the pot until the water level almost covers the silverside.

Step 2: Turn on the heat to high on the stove and add in the peppercorns, cloves, vinegar, brown sugar and bay leaves. Leave this on the stove with the lid off, until the water starts to bubble/boil.

 

Step 3: Once the water starts to boil, turn down the heat to low, so that the water just simmers. Put on the lid at this point. You allow the silverside to cook for 40 mins per 500g.

Step 4: Once it is cooked, turn off the heat and allow to rest for 15-30 mins.

Step 5: While the meat is resting, you can make the sauce. In a sauce pan, put in the butter and turn the heat on high. When the butter has melted, add in the flour (just enough to turn the butter into a thick paste). Then very quickly add the milk. Add enough milk for how many people you are serving. If only 2 people, then 1 cup of milk is enough.

Step 6: This is the tricky part. Keep stirring the sauce very slowly. You need to keep doing this until you notice the consistency of the sauce change from liquid to thick (you should feel some resistance when you try to stir).  At this point, take the pot right off the heat and add in the cheese. Stir in the cheese very quickly and keep stirring until all the cheese melts into the sauce. (It’s ok, if it’s a little gluggy, just add in a little more milk and turn on the heat – this will thin out the sauce again). Once done, you sauce should look like the below image:

 

Step 7: remove the silverside from the pot and carve it up into thin slices (Thinner is better – then it can basically melt in your mouth when you eat it)

 

Step 8: Add to the plate with your side dish of choice and add in the sauce (I prefer the sauce all over my meat, my partner prefers it on the side only – it’s up to you)

Enjoy!