Words that come to mind when thinking of good old corned silverside: hearty, tender, filling, aromatic, nourishing, mouthfeel. Honestly, I eat cold silverside leftovers like I eat popcorn at the cinema.

After the MANY years I’ve been cooking good old corned silverside, I only have two tips:

lean towards heavy-handed with the flavourings
cook on a low simmer (most recipes say 1.5–2 hours) for as long as it takes for a steak knife to pierce the meat in the pot with no resistance whatsoever (I say 3–4 hours).

Make that three tips. All it needs is a simple white cheese sauce.

Four tips. It needs potato mashed with a stack of real butter (I never use milk). Not pomme puree, but just potato and butter, and enough butter (not 50/50, more 70/30) to get a smooth, tasty texture.

Five tips. Crumbed brussels sprouts are the other vegetable of choice in this house. Roasted will do.

As usual, one of the main problems I encounter is that this cut of meat is called different things in different English-speaking places <sighs>. Hopefully, Wikipedia is correct in explaining silverside and corned beef. And here is the difference between corned beef and beef brisket. Silverside is beef hindquarter, with the silver referring to the silver membrane on one side.

Once that’s worked out, I promise you a hearty, delicious meal, with excellent leftovers for sandwiches (or popcorn breaks). And for another great meat dish, try my mother-in-law’s foolproof beef casserole!

“People who love to eat are always the best people.”
-Julia child, Chef & Author

Ingredients

1.5 kg (3.3 pound) corned silverside (which is beef hindquarter that has been salt-cured, NOT corned beef or salt-cured brisket which comes from the chest. Maybe this works with those cuts but you will need to check with your butcher). Note: if your cut is smaller, still use roughly same portions below, but if larger, then adjust up.
1 onion, roughly chopped
12 cloves, roughly – just chuck them in
2 tbsp brown sugar, roughly
1 cup malt vinegar, many recipes use a lot less but I find it really helps tenderise the meat and adds flavour
6 dry bay leaves, or more

Instructions

Put meat in large pot along with other ingredients. Add water until meat is just covered. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer slowly on a low temperature for 3-4 hours. You can turn the meat over or skim off any foam.
Meat is done when a knife can be smoothly inserted right through to the bottom of the cut at several points, meeting no resistance at all. Discard any fat and slice to serve.

Hello!

Good Old Corned Silverside