Oh. My. Goodness.

I think I’m in love with braising.

The slow heat, the acids, the humidity inside the pot turn a tough cut of meat melt-in-your-mouth soft, with incredibly rich flavors.

It’s SO good.

In this recipe, first you boil the meat (gotta get that cure off), drain that swamp, then pile the meat, onions, spices, braising liquid, and sauerkraut into an oven-safe pot with a lid.

Cook it forever. When it comes out, you might try to scoop away the sauerkraut to see what your meat looks like, and accidentally scoop a chunk of meat with it. It’s THAT tender.

Here’s the recipe: Oven Braised Corned Beef

My recipe notes:

• The recipe calls for a 24 oz jar of sauerkraut – Crockadill doesn’t make that size. A pint worked fine for me, but you could also use 2/3 of a quart. I recommend Pure Kraut or German Kraut to match the flavors of the pickling spice.


• I didn’t have beer, so I swapped unsalted chicken broth. No big deal.


• I wanted a few more veggies on the side, so before the last hour of cooking time, I threw in some baby carrots and a diced potato. This was NOT LONG ENOUGH and I had to fish them out and roast them. Sigh.
  
  Don’t make my mistake – if you want carrots & potatoes, throw them in 2 hours before it’s done.