Whether you’re a man, woman, or child, if you were watching the Superbowl last night, you were eating man food. You know what I mean by that, don’t you? The kind of meal that makes hair grow on your chest. The kind of meal that needs to be washed down with beer…sans coaster. The kind of meal that makes you feel more manly just by eating it…and yes, ladies, I am talking to you.
So what is man food?
In a word: meat. And not much else.
Last night in our house, that meant our Superbowl tradition of homemade corned beef sandwiches.
I was first introduced to this dish at a cooking class I attended years ago where the instructor told us that she used to make it once a month for her husband’s poker night. But since they recently separated, she hadn’t made it for a while.
“What a shame.” We all thought after sampling the recipe. “It’s so amazing, you should still make it…even in the absence of a man-meal occasion!”
Which is exactly what I was thinking last night as I sampled my corned beef before throwing it to the lions. Why do I have wait for a man-event to make a man meal?
I shouldn’t. And neither should you.
While this meal doesn’t need to be served during the Superbowl, poker night or any other testosterone-driven event, it does require quite a bit of cooking time and thus, makes a great Sunday dinner.
Peach Jam & Whisky glazed Corned Beef
Adapted from this recipe at epicurious.com
Makes 6 man-sized sandwiches
Ingredients:
2-3lb pickled brisket. You can find this at a kosher butcher or a grocery store with a kosher meat section.
1-250ml jar of peach jam (apricot works well, too)
¼ cup whisky
1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Rinse off the brisket really well, making sure to remove all the pickling spices.
3. Put in an oven-safe pot that is large enough to hold the meat and cover it with 2 cm of water.
4. Cover tightly and roast for 2-3 hours. Two will do but three is better.
5. Remove the brisket from the oven and put on a foil-lined baking sheet and turn the oven up to 425 while you…
Make the glaze:
1. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, mix the mustard, whisky, and jam until smooth and gently simmering. Remove from the heat.
2. Generously brush the glaze all over the brisket.
3. After 10 minutes, brush more glaze on the meat. By this point, the glaze will have cooled down and will be thicker.
4. Repeat every 10 minutes or so for a total cooking time of 40 minutes. Watch it so it doesn’t burn.
5. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Use this time to assemble the fixins: rye bread, coleslaw, and mustard…I like mine a bit spicy; it compliments the sweet glaze.
6. Slice against the grain and serve. And then drink a beer and scratch yourself…or something else a “real man” would do!
