Corned beef was a great standby in Australia in the days before refrigeration, and it is still a favourite today. ‘Corned’ means the meat is preserved in brine (salty water). In our segment Peter Valder cooked corned beef and boiled vegetables served with a parsley sauce.
Ingredients
corned silverside, trimmed of excess fat
vegetables, cut into evenly sized pieces (Peter used potato, carrot, parsnip and peeled small onions)
Method
1. Place the silverside in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow about 40 minutes per 500g of meat.
2. About 20 minutes before the corned beef is cooked, add the vegetables.
3. As soon as the vegetables are cooked, lift out the corned beef, slice it, and serve. Pour parsley sauce (see below) over the vegetables.
Note: Peter likes his corned beef served with mustard, and he also adds a green vegetable, cooked separately.
Note: Peter likes his corned beef served with mustard, and he also adds a green vegetable, cooked separately.
Parsley sauce
50g butter
3 heaped dessertspoons plain flour
1 1/2 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
parsley, chopped
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan (do not allow it to brown).
2. Add the flour, and stir over a low heat until thoroughly mixed.
3. Add the milk and salt and pepper to taste. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens.
4. Add the chopped parsley, stir to combine and then serve.
(Peter’s tip: only add a little milk at first, so that the sauce is thicker than you want it to be, then thin it to the desired consistency with extra milk and bring it back to the boil and, if you can’t be bothered with traditional white sauce, use a packet base.)