Bella Knitting: The Wearing of the Green

Sarah

An early Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!

Much of my ancestry is Irish -- my grandfather's parents even returned to Ireland after having and raising him in New York, and he probably would have stayed if not for the outbreak of WWII. (Luckily for me, he returned to serve for the US in the Pacific theatre, and ended up meeting my grandmother at a USO hall in San Luis Obispo.)

Growing up, of course, my mom always made my great-grandmother's sweet Irish soda bread (recipe at the bottom of this post) and corned beef and cabbage. This year, Jason and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day a little early with some relatives, and so I put together my own corned beef and cabbage recipe. (I also celebrated by buying myself this cute tote from Bella. What can I say? I love green.)

Sarah's Corned Beef and Cabbage
1 3lb corned beef brisket (or a little larger if you want leftovers -- and I think you might)
Potatoes (how many? however many you think you'll eat and can fit in the pot. Russets, reds, and yukon golds all work well, so pick whichever looks best at the store)
1 head cabbage
Carrots (again, just decide how many you want based on how much you like carrots and the size of your pot.)
1/4 cup or so of good white wine or apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp good mustard (nothing that is neon yellow or is blended with funky stuff)
6-10 whole allspice berries (or a couple pinches of ground allspice if that's all you have -- but the whole stuff is way, way better and lasts much longer)
small palmful of white peppercorns
small palmful of black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 or 2 tsp caraway seeds (you'll have them on hand for the Irish soda bread anyway, right?)
several cloves of garlic (just whack each clove so you can easily peel it, and it should be fine -- no need to chop it up any more)
A few cloves (or a pinch of ground clove if that's all you have, but the whole stuff is better)

This really is a one-pot meal -- get out a large, heavy, ovenproof stockpot (or dutch oven -- and remember, the lid needs to be ovenproof too) and preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Set aside the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage (you won't need them for another 4 hours or so) and toss everything else in the pot, then add enough cold water to cover the brisket by about an inch and a half to two inches. Put the pot on the stove, uncovered, and bring the water to a boil. If any scum builds up on the top, skim it off. Once the water has reached a boil, cover the pot with foil, then with the lid, and fold down the foil to really help seal the lid of the pot. Put the pot in the oven for 3 hours and 45 minutes, or until the meat is really tender (stab it with a fork -- if you get about as much resistance as you would from a soft stick of butter, it's done.)

Remove the meat using tongs, put it on a plate or cutting board and cover it with foil to keep it warm. Put the pot back on a burner and toss in the potatos (if they are large, cut them in half or in quarters, if they are the little guys, leave them whole) and carrots (cut into pieces about as big as your potato chunks) and bring the pot to a boil, then back it down to a simmer until (about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your veggies) the potatos are fully cooked. (How will you know? Stab it with a sharp knife. If it's fully cooked, it should slip right back off the knife.) Add the cabbage and let it cook for only about 5 more minutes (unless you like slimy overcooked cabbabe, in which case add it earlier.) Cut up the corned beef and serve with a nice helping of potatos, carrots, and cabbage. Pair with a little (or a lot of) Irish beer and soda bread, and you'll be singing "Danny Boy" like a pro in no time.

Comments

"Oh Danny boy". . . my father's favorite song. And he wasn't even Irish-- my mother was!
I'm going to try your recipe instead of the pre-packaged spices cheat.
Erin go bragh!

Posted by: Gretchen | March 16, 2007 at 08:26 AM