Emiline the Sugar Plum is throwing a party. It's just a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day and the Irish all over the world are celebrating the day St. Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland.
Emiline has asked anyone wanting to participate to post an Irish food or beverage for the event. I was going to make a Guinness and beef stew but that's been done alot. I opted for the other Irish classic, corned Beef & cabbage.
Before any of my Greek readers go off the rail thinking I'm serving up rare meat again, corned beef gets it's pink colour from being marinated in pickling spices, salt peter and lots of peppercorns (hence the name).
I used my trusty slow cooker for this dish which was really easy to make: clean, chop, stir, dump and wait.
The aroma that wafted through the house was to die for! If you want to serve up a healthy, delicious meal, consider corned beef & cabbage. You get tender corned beef, braised cabbage, boiled potatoes and sweet onions and carrots.
I even was able to hide some corned beef for a leftover Reuben sandwich...but as Hammy Hamster says...that's another story!
Corned Beef & Cabbage in Ale
3-4 lb. corned beef brisket
1 head cabbage, quartered
1 bottle of ale (Alexander Keith's)
4 carrots, halved then cut into long pieces
12 small red potatoes
4 onions, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon dry mustard (Colman's)
3 bay leaves
handful of peppercorns
1 Tbsp. of pickling spices or Montreal steak seasoning
1 large sprig thyme
- Empty the corned beef (plus any liquid) into your slow cooker or dutch oven. Add all the ingredients except for the cabbage and carrots.
- Cover with a lid and braise for 90 minutes.
- Add the cabbage quarters and carrots and cover again and braise for another hour or until the cabbage and carrots are fork tender.
- Slice the corned beef and arrange on a plate with the cabbage, potatoes, onions and carrots. Serve with some zesty mustard.
