In honor of the fast approaching St. Patrick’s Day, here’s my recipe for corned beef and cabbage. I like to serve it in a bowl with some of the broth it’s cooked in, and with plenty of other vegetables added, especially root vegetables like carrots, turnips, parsnips, and potatoes. So it’s more like a corned beef and cabbage soup or stew. A Black and Tan (pale ale with Guinness Stout on top) makes a fine accompaniment.
I used a 4 lb. brisket of corned beef, which should serve about 4 people with leftovers.
Ingredients:
- 1 Corned beef brisket, about 4 lbs.
- 1 head of cabbage
- 2 medium onions
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 ribs of celery
- 2 medium-sized carrots
- 2 medium-sized parsnips (optional)
- 1 largish turnip (optional)
- 4 medium-large potatoes
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 1-2 Bay Leaves
Add the corned beef brisket to a large pot and fill with enough water to just cover the brisket. If the brisket came with a little pack of pickling spices, add them to the water along with the bay leaves, peppercorns, and coarsely chopped garlic. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. It’ll cook for about 3 hours total.
Wash and peel whatever combination of carrots, parsnips and turnips you’re adding and coarsely chop them up along with the onions and celery. Add these vegetables to the simmering water and corned beef after it’s been cooking for about 2 hours.
Peel the potatoes if you like and chop them into 1 or 2 inch chunks (I usually don’t peel the potatoes because I like the potato skins- I just wash the outside skin really well). Wash the cabbage head and remove the outside leaves. Cut the cabbage head into quarters and cut the stem out of the cabbage. Add the potatoes to the simmering water at about 2 1/2 hours of cooking time, and add the cabbage on top.
Let simmer for about another 1/2 hour until the potatoes are soft and the cabbage is well cooked. Remove the corned beef, cut slices against the grain and serve in a bowl with some of the broth and the vegetables. Enjoy!
Bonus: how to make the Black and Tan in the picture:
Start with a good Irish pale ale- I like Bass Ale for this. Fill a glass half full of pale ale. Then take a large spoon and hold it upside-down over the glass. Carefully and slowly pour Guinness Stout (the only real choice for the “black” part of the Black and Tan) over the spoon so it layers on top of the Pale Ale. Enjoy (responsibly)!
