Happy St. Pat's

OK, I'm not Irish, and I'm late by a few days, but we do like corned beef and cabbage once a year.  Today was the day. I had purchased a nice hunk of corned beef; it's always on sale this week. Carrots freshly dug from the garden, potatoes, and cabbage are a must. I used my crock pot to slow cook it all day. It was hard to wait for dinner because it smelled so good as it simmered away. And we weren't disappointed.  It turned out great; very flavorful and fall-apart tender.

I used the recipe Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage from Allrecipes.com with a few modifications. I started in the crock pot with just the meat + 1/2 bottle of beer and water to cover, on high for about 3 hours. Then I removed the meat and discarded the liquid. (This helps cut down on the fat and salt.)  Next I put the meat back in the crock pot + the rest of the beer + carrots and potatoes. I added water to cover and 2 beef bullion cubes. It continued to cook the rest of the day. About an hour before dinner time, I added wedges of cabbage. (You don't want the cabbage to be overcooked.)  I took the meat out 10 minutes before we ate to let it rest. That makes the slicing so much easier, and I was careful to slice it across the grain.  It was perfect; even DH agreed. The meat was tender, flavorful, but not too salty. The potatoes and carrots were soft and flavored from the meat. The cabbage was softened, but not limp. Yum!

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Irish

Irish who?

Irish you a happy St. Pat's Day!