Since tomorrow's St. Patty's day, I popped a corned beef brisket into the crock pot this morning so that we can have it with some boiled cabbage for dinner tonight. Corned beef & cabbage is one of Jim's favorite meals, and I don't mind it once in a while. Corned beef usually comes from the brisket of a cow, or the chunk of fat/muscle that's nearly between the front legs, at the bottom of the neck. The meat is cured or pickled in a seasoned brine. According to Wikipedia, "the 'corn' in 'corned beef' refers to the "corn" or grains of coarse salts used to cure it. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the usage of 'corn,' meaning 'small hard particle, a grain, as of sand or salt.'"
As I was putting the meat in the crock pot, I couldn't help but notice all the fat, some of which I was able to trim off, but most still remains on and in the meat. Probably not the best cut of meat to eat if you're concerned about calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, etc.
So I hopped on the internet to find out how my traditional Irish meal would sit in terms of other cuts of beef. As I suspected, it's one of the highest fat & calorie cuts you can find. Good thing we only eat it on rare occasions. The chart below shows some different cuts of meats and their total calories for a 3 oz serving. Remember that 3 oz is a piece of meat approximately the size of a deck of playing cards!
Oh, look-- beef tongue is a much healthier option! As is fried liver! Ugh. I think I'll just have a small portion of corned beef, a large helping of cabbage, and skip dessert.
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