Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
A hearty Newfoundland boiled dinner of salt beef, split-pea pudding and root vegetables. Traditional, filling Sunday cooking.
Jiggs dinner is Newfoundland's traditional Sunday boiled dinner: salt beef simmered slowly with cabbage and root vegetables, alongside a cloth bag of split-pea pudding cooked in the same pot. It's filling, old-fashioned, one-pot cooking made to feed a houseful. The rich cooking liquor and the pease pudding are prized as much as the beef.
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Prep 30 min
Cook 180 min
Total 210 min
Medium
Scale:
- 2 Lbs Beef
- 1 cup Yellow Split Peas
- 1 head Cabbage
- 6 Carrots
- 1 large Turnips
- 8 Potatoes
- 3 tablespoons Butter
- To taste Black Pepper
Preparation
- The night before, break the salt beef into big chunks and soak in water for at least 8 to 10 hours. Put the split peas in a bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak overnight.
- Drain the salt beef and put it in a large stockpot, covering with at least 6 to 7 litres of fresh water. Spoon the split peas into a pease pudding bag (or a triple layer of cheesecloth) and tie it, leaving room for them to swell.
- Drop the pea bag into the pot, tying the strings to the outside handle so it doesn't sink. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours.
- Lift out the pea bag and empty it into a bowl, mashing with butter and pepper, then set aside.
- Add the cabbage to the pot and boil for 20 minutes, then add the turnip, carrots and potatoes and boil for 20 minutes more, until tender.
- Lift the salt beef and vegetables onto a platter. Drink the cooking liquid as pot liquor, or reduce it into a gravy to pour over the meal.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Soak the salt beef overnight, changing the water once or twice, to draw out the excess salt.
- Tie the pease pudding bag loosely so the peas can swell, and fasten it to the pot handle so it doesn't sink.
- Add the vegetables in stages so each one ends up tender without collapsing.
- Hang on to the cooking liquid: sip it as pot liquor, or reduce it down into a gravy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Beef cured in brine, a staple of Newfoundland cooking. Soak it well before cooking to pull out the salt. Corned beef is a close stand-in.
Split peas boiled in a cloth bag in the same pot, then mashed with butter and pepper. It's the traditional savoury side to the dinner.
You can cook the split peas separately, though boiling them in the pot in a bag is the traditional way and lets them soak up the flavour.
It's highly valued. Sip it as 'pot liquor', use it to moisten the plate, or reduce it down into a gravy to pour over everything.
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