Secret corned beef recipe 'is the best in town'

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

The St. Patricks's Day parade will be celebrated on March 13. IC file photo

 "All are invited to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with the Hibernian Society at the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade at the Gateway Mall March 13 at 10 a.m. and then come to our parish March 14 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. to feast on the best corned beef in town," said Father Patrick Carley, pastor of Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in West Jordan.

The corned beef and cabbage are cooked by Tony Rezac and the recipe is so secret that he takes the garbage out himself so nobody will see the ingredients, said Anne Kurek, a St. Joseph the Worker Parish secretary.

"I thought it would be nice to let the parishioners know the recipe in our newsletter because everyone loves it so much," said Kurek. "That is when I discovered it was a secret. I told him we have a right to know, and we got silly with it. He would not budge and intentionally would not put things in the garbage so I could not figure it out."

Rezac was born in Nebraska, but after he was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1953, he moved to Murray. He cooks the corned beef dinner and he barbecues when the parish holds outdoor events. He is a man of very few words, so keeping the recipe a secret is not hard.

Fr. Carley said Rezac has been cooking the corned beef dinner since 1987, when Father John Hart was the pastor at St. Joseph the Worker. "Whatever he does, he won’t confide in us the ingredients," said Fr. Carley, adding that the dinner will be accompanied by Irish music, dancing and a sing-a-long. A group from the Hibernian Society will lead the singing.

"Tony is a jack of all trades and a master of them all," said Fr. Carley. "He really is skillful in every way. You hardly notice what he and his buddy Dean Eliason are doing because they are so ahead of the game. Tony really has a deep love for the parish and the people of St. Joseph. He is our main usher at the 9 a.m. Mass. He is a wonderful stately gentleman who graciously greets everybody with warmth and affection. He is an outstanding parishioner here at St. Joseph and I am very proud of him and glad to have him. And, for a man of his age, he can really strike a golf ball."

"Everyone has heard of Tony and Dean, and seen them around the grounds," said Kurek. "But to some they are the ‘grumpy old men’ of St. Joseph’s. For those lucky enough to know them a little deeper, they are the Dynamic Duo, the nuts and bolts of our community and great and loyal friends of the parish. They can fix anything."

Fr. Carley said the parade will run through the outdoor Gateway Mall located at 400 West 100 South in Salt Lake City. There will be a surprise grand marshal, floats from the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Salt Lake, families with Irish surnames marching, bands and entries of all kinds to celebrate the day.

"Then on Sunday, everyone is invited to St. Joseph the Worker for a corned beef dinner," said Fr. Carley. "It really is an outstanding dinner. Every year we have great crowds and everybody acknowledges that it is as good of corned beef as they have ever had." St. Joseph the Worker is located at 7405 South Redwood Road, West Jordan.