Instructions
Timing, they say, is everything. It’s never enough just knowing ‘what’ to do. Recognising ‘when’ to do it is often more important.
Offloading your shares in a troubled company is good advice, but only if you get around to it before the administrators are called in. Picking the winning horse is a sure way to feather your nest, provided you placed the wager before the race was run.
Getting one’s timing right is also the central issue in the Great Doona Challenge. As we settle into the rhythm of Autumn, each of us is assured that the first cold night is not far off. With the unbearably stifling heat of summer behind us, the nights are now pleasantly brisk – enough for an extra cuddle.
But at some point it will transform into just plain cold. So when do you break out the doona? Go too early, and it’s a sweaty sleepless torpor that confronts you. Go too late, and you’ll shiver through the dark hours.
I make it a rule to bring out the doona on the night I cook my first corned beef of the year. If it’s cold enough to warrant slow-cooked meat, then it’s time for extra bedclothes.
The art of cooking corned beef is uncomplicated. Immerse it in a flavoursome liquid and use only the gentlest heat for hours on end. The result will be pull-apart delicate and bursting with flavour. It really is the simplest meat you’ll ever cook. The only time you’ll run into trouble is of you make the mistake of not cooking it long enough or using too high a heat. As a rule, providing the heat is low, you can’t overcook corned beef.
Not only is it almost impossible to get wrong, but it’s also one of the cheapest cuts you can buy. Put together, this makes it ideal for a great family meal.
The name ‘corned’ comes from the large grains of rock salt used to cure the meat – in Old English these large crystals were called corns. Incidentally, this is where the vegetable got its name, as 15th century explorers in America felt that the kernels resembled a series of salt corns laid end on end inside the husk.
If you don’t already own one, corned beef is the perfect reason to buy a slow-cooker. Put the meat on low heat as you leave for work in the morning, then come home to find the most luscious braise ready for dinner. It’s warm, comforting and just the thing on a cold night – kind of like a great big doona ….. for your tummy!
Corned beef with cider and potatoes