Karen B's Saint Patrick's Day Corned Beef And Cabbage

Corned Beef and Cabbage is a wonderful dish that you can make at any time not just for Saint Patrick's Day! It's a great Sunday dinner and is great for left overs. You can make sandwich's soups just about anything with it ;)

I took the basics and then added my own twist on the recipes. I felt it need a little extra ompf and it worked out great for the restaurant.

You can cook it one of two ways. In a Dutch oven covered or in the oven in an open roaster. I prefer the open roaster method. I like the bit of browning of the fat that occurs but that's me.

You can find brisket in the supermarket well-trimmed and boneless. They usually come with a little spice packet. I choose the one with the most fat on the top for my open roaster method.

Ingredients:

• 2 - pound corned beef boneless brisket
• 1 onion (cut into fours)
• 1/2 head of garlic (cut in half - a head not clove, no need to peel)
• 1 orange (cut in four)
• 1 apple (cut in four)
• Spice packet
• 1 head cabbage (cut into 6 wedges)
• 6 medium carrots (cleaned and cut into large pieces)
• Parsley for garnish
• 1/2 stick butter (optional)

If you don't have a spice packet here is what you will need:

8 Allspice berries

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 Bay leaves crushed

2 Fresh Thyme sprigs or 1/2 tsp dried Thyme

Place brisket into your Dutch oven.

Add enough water to just cover. Add all ingredients except the cabbage and carrots.

Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover. Simmer for about two hours until beef is nice and tender.

Remove meat to cutting board and cover.

Bring liquid back up to a boil, add the cabbage and carrots reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. For a bit of extra flavor I add 1/2 stick of butter to the liquid before adding the cabbage and carrots ;)

Cut the brisket as shown below and arrange on the serving platter along with the cabbage and carrots. Pour some of the hot liquid over the dish just before serving, garnish with parsley and serve with brown mustard.

Oven method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Place brisket fat side up. Follow the same instructions as above. Uncover after the first hour.

Serves 6

Here is the correct way to carve a brisket.

You always need to cut "across" the grain".

Enjoy!