Three ingredients I simply adore – corned beef (hot or cold), peas (fresh, frozen, even the dehydrated ‘Surprise’ variety) and eggs any which way.
I grew up on the farm eating corned beef most weeks. We would kill a steer once a year and while the fillets and roasts were always enjoyed, to me there was always something exotic about a large ‘chunk of pink’ simmering away in a pot with its familiar perfume of malt vinegar, brown sugar, bay leaves and vegetables permeating the air. Always served with mash, cabbage, leeks and mustard sauce, it could never be described as a pretty dish but, comforting and satisfying to the soul, there was nothing better.
I have accompanied my beloved corned beef here with a pea hash, which is also a kind of throwback to ‘bubble and squeak’ that was often served the next morning for breakfast made with the previous night’s leftovers. Crowned with a couple of fried eggs with runny yolks, a lick of hot mustard and a pot of coffee, that’s nostalgia right there!
"I grew up on the farm eating corned beef most weeks. It could never be described as a pretty dish but – comforting and satisfying to the soul – there was nothing better."