There’s nothing quite like that all-day smell of a Boiled Dinner filling the kitchen on a Sunday, all while everyone is anticipating a plate full of fall-apart meat & tender to completely softened vegetables covered in Butter, seasoned with Salt & Pepper. It’s a meal steeped in tradition, bringing families together around the table for generations. It transcends cultures too, with versions coming from NFLD, Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI), Acadians, Irish or Irish-American, New England, and even Portuguese.It also makes for an excellent St.Paddys Day Meal. For this recipe, we go with a Homemade Corned Pork that is cured for 3 days. Along with some Potatoes, Carrots, Cabbage, and Onions. Butter with Salt & Pepper to season the plate and that Mustard Horseradish Sauce. Optionally Broil the Corned Pork with a Mustard & Brown Sugar mix.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Corned Pork - see notes
- 16 Cups Water
- 3-5 lbs Potatoes - see notes
- 2-3 Large Onions - Quartered
- 2 lbs Carrots - see notes
- 1 Head Cabbage - Small to medium head of cabbage torn into pieces.
Instructions
- Slow Simmered Corned Pork: Place the strained corned pork and pickling spice into the pot and fill with cold water, about 16 Cups. Cover and set over medium-low heat. Set the timer for 4 hours. After 2 hours, it should be simmering; skim the scum off to keep the broth clean. After the 4 hours, test a piece to see if it is tender. Simmer another hour uncovered if it needs more time. Else scoop the meat out and place it into a large tray, cover it, and place this into the oven on the lowest setting to keep warm. Strain the broth to get rid of the spices and small bits of protein, and return the broth to the pot.
- Vegetables: Turn the heat up to medium, cover, and wait until it starts to boil. When it starts to boil, add Potatoes to simmer while covered for 25 minutes or until soft. Scoop out the Potatoes and transfer them to the tray with the corned pork. Add the Carrots to simmer while covered for 15 minutes or until soft. Scoop out the Carrots and place them into the tray. Add torn Cabbage & Onions to simmer while covered for 15 minutes. Scoop them out with a spider and place them into the tray.
- Reduction: Taste the broth, and if a stronger flavor is desired, reduce over max heat until it has a good flavor. If it needs to be diluted, add more water. Ladle about 2–3 cups of broth into the tray for the vegetables and meat to soak up. The tray can stay here while covered until ready to serve or placed into the oven on the lowest setting to keep warm and further softened the vegetables.
- Butter, Salt & Pepper: Once everything is placed into the tray, present the whole tray at the table for everyone to help themselves along with butter, salt & pepper, and any additional sides.
Notes
Corned Pork: Start the Corned Pork 3 days before you plan on making the Boiled Dinner. Once it has been cured for 3 days, strain out reserving the meat and pickling spice to throw back into the pot and fill with water. Proceed with the recipe above.
When boiling the vegetables, cover with a lid. This makes it hotter inside the pot to cook the vegetable tender and a bit faster than boiling uncovered. Always check the doneness of each vegetable by piercing with a fork and remove once tender.
Potatoes: Peel & Chop medium size potatoes in half. These will take about 25–30 minutes to cook until tender or soft. You can also dice about 1 inch or slightly bigger, which will take about 15 minutes to cook until tender.
Carrots: Peel & Chop to separate the bottom thinner part from the top thicker part and then slice the top thicker part in half lengthwise or leave them whole. These will take about 15 minutes to cook until tender.
Cabbage: Slice the Cabbage into quarters and a few layers at a time tear the Cabbage. This will take about 15 minutes boil time until tender.
Onions: Chop the ends off slice in half. Peel the skin off and chop each half in half again. Onions will take anywhere about 15 minutes and are included when boiling the cabbage.