Mary Ann's desire for old-style home cooking, fired up a week ago on her birthday, does not seem to have been fully satisfied. Tonight she had New England boiled dinner on her mind.
That, oddly, was a familiar item in New Orleans restaurants for at least a hundred years. It was famously popular at the really ancient cafes--notably Tujague's and Maylie's. But it was also a widely-served lunch special in restaurants all over town, even in the suburbs. Why it's so hard to find these days I don't know.
[caption id="attachment_40334" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Boiled beef brisket.[/caption]
I do know that I've always loved boiled beef brisket, and the vegetable soup you can make from the stock in which it boils.
MA bought a five-pound flat-end brisket and a bunch of vegetables, and set to work on it. Pot of water, onions, celery, turnip, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a couple of cloves. (The cloves are more to make the kitchen smell good than any flavor). It's cooked in barely-boiling water for about four hours.
I kept my eye on the pot, adding a little water now and then. (The thin lid on the pot we use for such things stays so hot that not much condensed steam flows back down into the developing broth.)
It was ready at about seven-thirty. MA steamed up some broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I made up a batch of sauce along the lines of what Tujague's serves: chili sauce, horseradish, Creole mustard, a little Worcestershire.
We sat down and ate. It was very good.
