tert in seattle wrote:
> let's say someone got the instructions wrong and added about 20 cloves
> instead of 1 or 2 to a corned beef recipe and let it simmer that way
> for about two hours ... is there an antidote?

Without knowing how huch corned beef (and especially how much water)
you're talking it's difficult to say if you're actually using too many
cloves.

Cloves are a normal part of pickling spice. Typical stupidmarket
pickling spice uses very few cloves, because cloves are expensive,
mostly they use mustard seed, the cheapest spice. Were I cooking
corned beef 20 cloves would be too few in my pickling spice, but I
cook like 20lbs of corned beef in like 20 quarts of water. I like
Penzeys pickling spice, it is potent with the "good stuff", contains
lots of cloves.

Penzeys:
"We use less mustard seed than most pickling spice mixes, as mustard
is the least expensive spice around. Hand-mixed from: yellow and brown
Canadian mustard seeds, Jamaican allspice, cracked China cassia,
cracked Turkish bay leaves, dill seed, Zanzibar cloves, cracked China
ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, star anise, Moroccan coriander,
juniper berries, West Indies mace, cardamom and medium hot crushed red
peppers."

How do you know that your corned beef will have too strong a clove
flavor, did you taste it? If it's still cooking add lots more hot
water (adding cold water will cause the meat to seize, so it can't
readily release the clove flavor. If it's finished cooking you can
still simmer it awhile in plain water. A good neutralizer for cloves
is hot pepper (as in jerk sauce), if you don't mind the heat, and
citrus with it's sweet tart flavor will also counteract clove flavor,
add the peel of an orange. I often add an orange rind and a lemon
rind to my corned beef boil as a matter of course.

But you haven't actually said that your corned beef has too much clove
flavor, only that you think you added too many cloves. Why don't you
try tasting some and report back.

Sheldon