A St. Patrick’s Day Meal: Classic Corned Beef & Cabbage
St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, so we decided to put up a traditional NYC Classic: Corned Beef & Cabbage with Irish Soda Bread!
NYC Corned Beef & Cabbage
1 (2 -6 lb) corned beef brisket
1 teaspoon peppercorn
2 dried bay leaves
1 -3 head fresh cabbage
1 -12 medium red potatoes
1 (1 lb) bag fresh carrot
fresh parsley (Dried won’t do at all)
Butter (margarine won’t do at all. Besides, we now know that butter is better for us 😉 )
1 fresh garlic clove
1 medium fresh sweet onion
Mustard (whatever floats your boat)
Directions:
- ————Selecting the corned beef brisket———–_
- Pick out a nice thick slab checking the sides to make sure it isn’t a very gristly one.
- The thicker the slab the better. If you are lucky, you may see some chunk style at a higher price per pound.
- If there isn’t a spice bag in with the brisket, you will need to get some whole peppercorns (white and black) and bay leaves.
- ————Selecting the Cabbage——————-.
- Keep in mind that the outer leaves will be discarded even if the store has already removed the natural outer leaves to make them look better and fresher.
- ————–Selecting the Potatoes—————-.
- Pick out a bag of medium to small sized ones.
- The smaller the better.
- ————-Selecting the Carrots———-.
- Get the smallest bag they have unless you like carrots, because you will only use one per pot of cabbage to take any bitterness out of the cabbage.
- ————-Preparing and cooking the meal———————–
- (It’s going to take 3 hours with you there).
- Use a large Dutch oven or stock pot that will hold everything all at once.
- Place the brisket (best side up) in the bottom of the pot.
- Add the spice packet or a teaspoonful of peppercorns and two bay leaves.
- Cover the brisket generously with water and a bottle of beer (optional – adds flavor and is a tenderizer).
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
- ————-During the 2 hours———-
- Scrub and rinse the new red potatoes.
- Remove any eyes and bad spots.
- Leave as much of the peel as you can.
- Quarter them (halve or whole if tiny).
- Cover with water until ready for them.
- Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage until the leaves are entirely light green, rinse and cut it into quarters through the spine so they stay together. Set aside.
- Peel one carrot and cut it into quarters. Set aside.
- Peel the onion and cut it into eighths. Set aside.
- Rinse the bunch of fresh parsley and chop up just the tops into very tiny pieces.
- ————–After the 2 hours————
- Add the potatoes on top of the brisket.
- Add water to cover everything.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the cabbage on top of the potatoes and add onion and carrot on top of the cabbage.
- Add water to cover everything.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Check the cabbage to see if it is tender.
- If not, simmer another 5 minutes. You shouldn’t undercook it and it’s hard to overcook it.
- —————When done———————–.
- In a large serving bowl where you can stir the potatoes, crush the garlic clove and rub the inside of the bowl with it.
- Place the potatoes in the bowl while still piping hot and add (at least) a quarter pound of butter and add a handful (more is better than less) of chopped fresh parsley.
- Gently stir until butter is melted, it coats all the potato pieces and the parsley is evenly distributed.
- Put the rest of the parsley into a tiny serving bowl for those who want to add more to their potatoes.
- As I said, more is better.
- Slice the brisket cross grain.
- Let everyone help themselves, make it known that the carrot pieces are for garnish only.
- ENJOY!!