Boiled Dinner

Directions

1. 1
   A day or two before cooking, season: 3 pounds grass-fed beef short ribs, beef brisket, or chuck, 4 chicken legs, with: Salt, Fresh-ground black pepper.
2. 2
   Mix together to make a brine: 4 tablespoons salt, 2 quarts water.
3. 3
   Add to the brine and soak overnight: 1 grass-fed beef tongue, about 2 pounds.
4. 4
   To cook the tongue, remove it from the brine and put it in a heavy pot, with water to cover by 2 inches.
5. 5
   Bring to a boil, then turn down to a, bare simmer, skim well, and add:, 1 onion, sliced thick, 1 carrot, peeled, 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, 3 allspice berries, 4 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 cup white wine or 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, A large pinch of salt.
6. 6
   Cook until tender, which can take up to 5 hours.
7. 7
   Add water as needed to keep the tongue submerged in simmering liquid.
8. 8
   When done, allow to cool, and peel off the thick outer layer of skin.
9. 9
   Discard cooking liquid.
10. 10
    Meanwhile, put the seasoned beef into a 3-gallon stock pot with: 2 quarts chicken broth, 2 quarts water.
11. 11
    The level of the liquid should be 2 inches above the meat.
12. 12
    Add more if necessary.
13. 13
    Bring to a boil, turn down to a bare simmer, and skim.
14. 14
    Add: 1 onion, 2 cloves, stuck into the onion, 1 carrot, peeled, 1 bay leaf.
15. 15
    Cook, barely simmering, for 2 hours.
16. 16
    Skim every now and then.
17. 17
    Meanwhile prepare the stuffed cabbage.
18. 18
    Carefully separate 10 whole leaves from: 1 head of savoy cabbage.
19. 19
    Cook the leaves in boiling salted water until tender, about 4 minutes.
20. 20
    Drain and cool.
21. 21
    Mix together and leave to soak for 10 minutes: 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (see page 62), 1/3 cup cream.
22. 22
    Meanwhile, in another bowl, gently mix together: 3/4 pound ground pork or chicken, 2 chicken livers, cleaned and chopped, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, Stir into the breadcrumb and cream mixture.
23. 23
    Test by frying a little patty of stuffing in a small pan; taste for salt and adjust as needed.
24. 24
    Trim away the thick hard rib from each cabbage leaf, lay them out flat, and spoon a generous bit of stuffing onto the lower third of each leaf.
25. 25
    Roll up each leaf, folding in the sides over the stuffing on the way up.
26. 26
    Tie loosely with cotton string.
27. 27
    After the beef has cooked for 2 hours, add the chicken legs and cook for 30 minutes more.
28. 28
    Remove the onion and carrot added at the beginning of the cooking.
29. 29
    Add: 8 small carrots, peeled, or 4 large carrots, peeled and cut in half, 4 large or 8 small leeks, trimmed and cleaned, 4 medium onions, peeled and cut in half, or 24 small boiling, onions, peeled, Simmer until the vegetables are quite tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes, removing them as they are cooked.
30. 30
    Ladle some of the broth from the poaching meat and vegetables into a smaller saucepan.
31. 31
    Heat to a bare simmer and add the stuffed cabbage leaves along with: 4 or 5 garlic sausages.
32. 32
    Simmer for 20 minutes or until done.
33. 33
    Remove and keep warm.
34. 34
    If you like, save this broth for another use.
35. 35
    When everything is cooked, strain the meat broth through a fine sieve and skim thoroughly.
36. 36
    When its time to serve, slice the meats and sausage and warm them with the vegetables and stuffed cabbage, moistened with some of the broth.
37. 37
    Arrange on a deep platter or in individual soup plates and ladle the warm broth over.
38. 38
    Pass coarse salt, Salsa Verde (page 45), and mustard, as desired.
39. 39
    Use only beef.
40. 40
    Use 8 pounds of bony cuts, such as oxtail or short ribs, or 6 pounds of boneless meat such as brisket, beef cheeks, or chuck.
41. 41
    When using boneless meat, if theyre available, add a couple of marrow bones to the pot.
42. 42
    Use a whole chicken instead of the chicken legs and omit the tongue.
43. 43
    Simmer the chicken for 45 minutes and then cool.
44. 44
    Remove the legs and, if they are still rare, cook them a few minutes longer in the broth.
45. 45
    When ready to serve, slice the chicken breast and divide the legs in two at the joint.
46. 46
    Reheat in a bit of broth.
47. 47
    If not making stuffed cabbage leaves, cut a small head of cabbage into wedges, simmer in broth or water separately until done, remove, and serve reheated with the meat and other vegetables.
48. 48
    Root vegetables other than carrots are delicious simmered and served with the meatsparsnips, rutabagas, or turnips, for example.
49. 49
    Serve the broth hot, as a first course, garnished with cooked pasta or a toasted crouton and some grated Parmesan cheese, and serve the meats and vegetables as a second course.
50. 50
    A boiled dinner is not just a wintertime meal.
51. 51
    I like to make it at different times of the year with different combinations of vegetables, depending on the season.
52. 52
    Red, yellow, and white heritage varieties of carrots enliven the presentation in the winter months.