I had mentioned to someone a few weeks ago that I was enjoying a pickled gherkin with lunch when I made an open sandwich. It was suggested that the liquor[i] from the jar shouldn’t be discarded because it could be used for slow-cooking corned beef.

I had about a cupful of pickle liquor, so I thought I’d give it a go.

I bought a piece of corned silverside[ii] (roughly 2 kg at $AUD10/kg) and slowly cooked it with the pickle liquor.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Corned beef silverside
• Pickle liquor

Equipment

• Slow cooker

Instructions

1. Place the beef into the cooking vessel.
2. Add the pickle liquor.
3. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.
4. Remove the cooked corned silverside and refrigerate.
5. Cut a slice of corned beef and place it on a piece of buttered sourdough bread[iii].
6. Serve with some mustard and a pickled gherkin[iv].

Photographs

For lunch, I had tinned corned beef.

For tea, I had the slowly cooked corned beef silverside.

Here are the photographs for comparison.

Thoughts on the meal

I enjoyed the corned silverside. This version tasted better than my recent effort.

I used the last of the slowly cooked corned beef silverside, which had been prepared with pickle liquor. I diced the meat along with some gherkins and cooked them in the corned beef cooking liquid. Then, I added mustard, cream, and some cheese.

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[i] Did you know that pickle liquor is a strong acid solution used in metalworking to clean and descale metal surfaces? Pickle juice is the salty, acidic liquid used to preserve pickles—typically made from water, vinegar, salt, and spices. I like (and prefer) the word liquor because it means liquid in which something has been steeped or cooked.

[ii] Beef silverside is a large, lean cut from the hindquarter of a cow, known for its coarse texture and low in fat content. It’s popular in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand for roasting, corning, or making biltong.

[iii] Sourdough bread is a naturally leavened bread made using wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, giving it a tangy flavour and chewy texture.

[iv] A gherkin is a small, bumpy cucumber variety that’s typically pickled and enjoyed for its crisp texture and tangy flavour.