Corned Beef & Cabbage
We don’t wait for St. Patrick’s day around here to have corned beef and cabbage. It is certainly one of the easiest and tastiest meal you can fix. It is also useful if you have company over, because it will feed 6-8 people, and maybe even then provide some leftovers.
The leftover corned beef gives you the opportunity to make corned beef hash, which is a real treat for breakfast or for a quick supper.
The corned beef comes in a plastic pouch, sometimes with a little spice packet included. In the market, they will all be about the same size, so shopping decisions are easy. Just buy the corned beef, some potatoes, and a head of white cabbage. If you’re not feeding too many people, many stores sell half heads of cabbage.
I usually use my crock pot, but if you don’t have one, you can simmer the beef in a stove top pot. Directions are on the package. If you want to add some flavor, as I usually do, add a tablespoon or two of pickling spice to the pot. Place the meat fat side up and cover with water and start cooking.
If you don’t have a crock pot, and still would like to have this cooking while you’re at work, you can put the pot in the oven at 200 degrees F for the day. I tried this with the Spicy Wine Pot Roast, and it worked great.
About an hour before dinner, remove the meat from the pot and put it in a pan in the oven. The oven (at about 300 degrees) will keep the meat hot and will brown the fat for a nicer appearance. Meanwhile, peel and chop the spuds into golf ball sized pieces and put them in the pot the meat came out of. You may have to turn up the heat to get the potatoes boiling, or, as I do, dump the crock pot water into another pot for the stove so you can get it hotter. After 20 minutes or so, just before the potatoes are done, add the cabbage, cut into wedges, into the same pot.
When it’s time to serve, slice the meat across the grain, and remove servings of potato and cabbage from the pot with a slotted spoon. Add butter, salt, and pepper to the cabbage and potato. Serve with horseradish sauce or mustard on the side. This is so good you’ll want to honor St. Pat every month!