The Costco stores in Minnesota aren't carrying the same brands of corned beef they have in the past. I mentioned only a month ago in another thread that Costco for several years sold the Vienna Beef brand of corned beef. I have visited 3 Costco stores in the last 2 weeks and they all had the "Sy Ginsberg" brand at about $3.50 a pound. I looked at many briskets at all three stores. They were all extremely fatty. In fact - the fattiest and most disgusting corned beef briskets I've ever seen. Not even close to the quality of the other brands Costco has offered in the past. Now I know some people like well marbled, fatty corned beef. But I won't be buying my CB at Costco this year. Sushi - perhaps your Costco if offering a different product. I know the products vary by region.

Mine doesn't seem to be overly salty either, but I do rinse it, then sprinkle the spices over top and most of the time I add a bit of water to the bottom of the dutch oven, more water if it's the crockpot. Peppi, it's one of those "5 ingredient" recipes and I didn't even mean it to be. (grin) I chop up the corned beef, dice some potatoes and onions. Throw some fat into a frying pan, add the onions and potatoes and stir until nicely browned. Add the chopped corn beef and some beef broth, I use my home canned stuff and use maybe a cup. Put a lid on and cook until the potatoes are tender. At this point it's ready to serve with some nice over easy eggs, but the girls liked a crunchy bottom layer. So I dumped out the hash, added butter to the hot pan, put the hash back in, made wells for eggs and put the lid back on. By the time the eggs were done the bottom was starting to crisp up and it was perfect. I've never used any measurements and the corned beef is salty and spicy enough that I only occasionally add a grind of black pepper when serving it. I use as many potatoes as I want servings, I can stretch just a little bit of corned beef this way or add a lot if I have some that I need to use up. I've added cabbage or parsnips at various times, I really like the added sweetness from the parsnips but Elery likes the original potato and onion version. It's really simple, just fried potatoes and onions and some leftover corned beef, but it's just the way we like it. We just got the cooktop installed, but no electricity yet for the ignitors, so it's probably going to be the crockpot... Annie

So why not stop thinking of it as "corned beef" which is a traditional food served with specific ingredients. Call it pickeled beef, or brined or cured. What goes well with salty? I'm guessing it's a brisket? Is it rich from fat or lean from removing the fat? Acid comes to mind. Like zucchini "noodles" or broccoli slaw dressed with lemon juice and herbs. (Along the same lines as cabbage or sauerkraut but different.) Something sweet, like roasted sliced potatoes or sweet potatoes. (Along the same lines as the roll for the Reuben or whipped potatoes.) Something acid and sweet, like bread and butter pickles, or Japanese cucumber or daikon salad. Something green and refreshing like peas. Something sharp and earthy like parsnip puree.

This is how I like to cook corned beef. My Corned Beef 3 lb corned beef 2 t black peppercorns Bag of spices included with corned beef 2 bay leaves 1 stalk celery 1 whole carrot 6 garlic cloves 1 onion, halved a few allspice 1 cup white wine OR 1 cup apple juice 1 cup water or water just to cover corned beef Soak corned beef in cold water for 24 hours to remove excess salt. Drain. One day before planning to eat, put corned beef in crock. Sprinkle spices included in small bag on corned beef. Add bay leaves, celery, carrot, garlic, and studded onion to the pot. Add wine or apple juice and water to crock. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 8 – 12 hours. Turn crockpot off and leave everything in crock until the next day when going to eat (this allows to corned beef to absorb all of the wonderful flavors). Next day, turn crockpot back on low to heat beef. When thoroughly heated, remove the beef to a plate to rest and slice. I cook carrots, potatoes, and cabbage all separately.