Irish Update

The corned beef was a hit. The men raved over the meat but I thought the cabbage and broth was amazing.

You will need:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 head celery with leaves, chopped

6 carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, halved

2 bay leaves

1 cabbage, cut into wedges

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Saute all ingredients except cabbage in a large dutch oven

Cook until they become soft- about 10 minutes

Remove meat from the brine and rinse

Lay meat on top of veggies

Add water to cover the meat and bring to a boil

Skim off any foam

Bring to a simmer and add lid

Simmer for 15 minutes

Add cabbage wedges on top of meat, cover

Put in oven for 3 hours

Remove meat, cover with foil and let sit for 20 minutes

Serve meat in shallow bowl with broth and cabbage.

* We ate ours with buttered cooked carrots, parsnips and potatoes

Erin Go Bragh

Now that I am part of an Irish family, I felt it was time to embrace St. Patrick's Day- or at least the cuisine. This Wednesday I will prepare my first corned beef and cabbage meal. With help from Justin the beef is already pickling in the fridge! Stay tuned for the finale on Wednesday but here is what we have prepared so far.

Beef Brine

You will need:

6 tablespoons pickling spice*

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup kosher salt

4 sprigs of thyme

2 bay leaves

2 1/2-3 pounds beef brisket (may need to cut in half)

*I found pickling spice at the Dekalb Farmer's Market. You could make your own with 1.5 tablespoons each of whole coriander, mustard seeds, peppercorns, allspice.

Combine all ingredients except beef in bowl

Add brisket and rub mixture into meat

Place rubbed beef in a plastic bag, pressing more brine mixture into the beef

Pour in water until meat is submerged

Refrigerate for one to ten days, mine will be brining for 4 days.