Corned Beef - St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick was a fifth century English or perhaps Scottish missionary to Ireland. Scholars agree he was a historical figure since he converted many pagans to Christianity. However, the same scholars dismiss the legend that has been created since his death.

The feast day of St. Patrick has been observed in Ireland on March 17 for hundreds of years. The day falls during the fasting season of Lent, but on St. Patrick's Day, the prohibition against eating meat was lifted, enabling the Irish to celebrate their patron saint with dancing, drinking and feasting.

The celebration in America commenced on March 17, 1762 led by Irish soldiers serving in the English Army in New York City. The ensuing parade helped the soldiers connect with their Irish roots and fellow Irishman.

One last surprise. It is a myth that the Irish don't celebrate St. Patrick's day with a little corned beef. They called it salt beef. on the Atlantic coast near Galway, Ireland, "pre-salted" lamb was the first choice. The meat produced on the coast contained a higher salt content from the effects of the sea and the dew that settled on the grasses near the coast line.

The process of salting or corning was applied to the meat of inland animals that had much lower intakes of salt in their diets compared to animals raised on the coast. The word corning, is drived from the similarity of coarse salt to grains of corn. So now you know the rest of the story.

CORNED BEEF RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pounds of beef brisket
• 1/4 cup large-grained kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. saltpeter (optional, can be found in pharmacies)
• 1/2 cup warm water

PREPARATION

Wash and remove most of the fat from the brisket. Mix together all the spices and the garlic and rub well into the brisket.

Dissolve the saltpeter in the warm water and pour over the meat. Place in a large, nonmetal container. Weight the meat down with a stone or brick and cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. (You can also place the ingredients in a plastic bag and weight it down.)

Refrigerate for 10 days to 2 weeks. Turn the meat every 2 to 3 days.

Place the meat in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and throw away the water. Repeat 3 times. Cover with cold water again, bring to a boil and cook over low heat, covered, for about 2 hours or until tender. Cool, slice thin and place on a platter. Serve with mustard or horseradish.

Serves: 8-10

Credits to: C.T. Mitchell - Anchorage Morning News

This is a friendly reminder to email health and wellness questions to the email address below for Dr. Eric Serrano M.D. question and answer series. Answers now appear below and the bi-weekly U.S. Wellness Newsletter. Your name will not be displayed.

Dr. Serrano has been so kind to offer his expertise to answer literally any question related to health and wellness involving grass-fed meats. Dr. Serrano has a wealth of knowledge from both his farm back ground and 13 years of clinical experience. This includes working with a number of world class athletes and a large local family practice in Ohio.

Please email using the address below and place Dr. Serrano's name in the subject line. Answers will appear in future U.S. Wellness Newsletters or below in News Alerts.

Dr. Serrano is an M.D. with advance degrees in nutrition, kinesiology and wellness.

Dr. Eric Seranno M.D. - 475 North Hill Road - Pickerington - OH - 43147

EMAIL QUESTIONS TO: eathealthy@grasslandbeef.com

.......................................................................................................

Hi Dr. Serrano,

I have been a grass-fed beef convert for about a year now. It makes a lot of sense to me for people who are healthy and need high quality fats, proteins and vitamins.

My question relates to people with chronic diseases. My best friend was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and from what I've read, the best approach to dealing with Auto-Immune Illness such as MS is to avoid protein and instead, focus on healing your digestive tract with a predominantly vegan diet (including a supplement of Cod Liver Oil). I have read your opinions about a vegan diet in previous newsletters, but am wondering if you have any alternative opinions for those with MS. If the vegan diet is not the best approach, do you have any suggestions for dealing with this disease with food as opposed to medication?

Thanks so much for your feedback. I really appreciate what you do!

Darcy A.

................................................................................................. Dear Darcy:

First let me give you a hand, because you are a great friend, and MS is a hard disease to treat. There are a lot of ideas out there in how to treat it. All though i have seen a few that actually have helped the patient, and none of them conventional medicine. MS's cause is unknown, but some people suspect it is a relationship between omega -3, vitamin D and proteins. However, others think it is related to allergies or protein deposits in the brain.

One thing i have learned, is a vegan diet does not help, trust me i have tried this method with patients. I have also tried low fat diets, low allergenic diets with mixed success. One thing that I have tried and seem some improvement, is using a very high fat diet, with lots of omega 3 and liver supplements, including red meat, nuts, fish oils, fish, eggs etc., with olive oil added as a supplement. I have seen milestones with this approach but i have also seen it fail. I am going to give you another website that will help you make your decisions and guiding with more treatments. Check out www.townsendletter.com

Take care,

Dr. Serrano

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