It's the weekend and a quick dash to the supermarket resulted in Raffaele bringing back a bag of corned beef. I grew up with this delight. Mum cooked it regularly and served it with white sauce and boiled vegetables when it was hot, or later as cold meat with hot boiled potatoes, mustard pickle or tomato sauce and pickled beetroot. For Raffaele it's an exotic Anglo treat and he loves it. Now I am working from home, it's the best thing for a lunchtime sandwich.
It's fine to buy a pre-prepared corned beef from the butcher or supermarket and follow the instructions on the packet. You will need to boil it and then leave it in its water to cool so it doesn't dry out. Make sure it's salty enough otherwise it can be a bit bland.
We had it the day after it was cooked, sliced thinly and served with boiled potatoes in their skins, boiled asparagus with a squeeze of lemon and fried fennel and radicchio.
Fried Fennel and Radicchio
On the bottom of the crisper there was half a sad looking fennel bulb and the end of a head of radicchio. I sliced each up into wedges and in a pan, fried them in olive oil until they were brown on the outside. I added just a little water and put the lid on for them to steam. When cooked these vegetables lose their strong aniseed and bitter favours and take on a lovely sweetness.
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