Ingredients
Serves 6, active cooking time about 45 minutes, total cooking time 3 and 1/2 hours
- 3lbs of corned beef brisket, point cut
- Spice packet purchased with corned beef, or 1 tablespoon pickling spices
- 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3/4 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into three-inch pieces
- 1 and 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large head of cabbage, cored and sliced into small wedges, then chopped roughly
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 cups of beef stock or 2 beef bouillon cubes or packets
Procedures
- Remove the brisket and spice packet from packaging and rinse the meat under cool water.
- In a dutch oven, place the brisket and spice packets over high heat. Cover the meat with 2 cups of beef broth plus whatever additional water is needed. If using bouillon, dissolve the powder in 2 cups of boiling water first, and then add to the dutch oven with additional water as needed. Make sure the meat is completely covered with liquid!
- Once the liquid in the dutch oven comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 2 hours.
- Add the carrots, potatoes, onion, and garlic to the pot, and cover. Let cook with the meat for about 30 minutes, or until tender.
- Next, remove the meat and tent with foil on a cutting board. Let it rest about 10 minutes, and then cut into 3/4-inch slices, against the grain.
- While the meat rests, add the cabbage to the pot and cover once more, cooking for about 20 minutes.
- To serve, spoon the vegetable onto a serving platter. Pour as much liquid as desired over the veggies. Then nestle the sliced beef amongst the veggies as in the picture above!
Here’s an interesting bit of St. Patty’s day trivia: corned beef is not a common food in Ireland. Rather, it became a common ingredient in Irish-American fare, used similarly to Canadian bacon. While this recipe requires a bit of time commitment, it’s so basic you can literally (and appropriately) make it whilst drunk. You must rinse the beef to prevent the dish from becoming too salty. Also, make sure to chop the cabbage a bit more finely than you think it need be, because that perfect state of tender, flavorful cabbage is visited sooner when the pieces are smaller.
At right around $2.85 per serving and hearty as any early spring dish has a right to be, corned beef and cabbage is a certified crowd pleaser. You can save the leftover liquid as a base for soups. Don’t forget get a couple extra potatoes and save one serving, to turn into corned beef and hash the next morning! It’s wonderful hangover food.