St. Paddy’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Place the corned beef in a large stockpot and cover it with cold water to nearly fill pot. Some corned beef comes with a sealed packet of seasoning. If yours does, add it to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the beef is firm but tender to the fork. Remove the beef from the pot. When the corned beef is almost done, chop the cabbage. (If it has a lot of outside dark green leaves, chop them separately and set aside. These leaves add beautiful color to the dish, but they are tougher and require a little more cooking time, so put them in the pot about 10 minutes before you add the remaining cabbage.) Place the cabbage in a colander and rinse it with cool water. When you are ready to add the cabbage, in a separate pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Immediately add the cabbage to the pot, leaving as much water as possible on the leaves. Cook, stirring until the cabbage is well coated with butter. Sprinkle with the House Seasoning. Cover the pot and simmer until the cabbage is tender but still somewhat crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.

   Step 2

   Slice the corned beef thinly across the grain. Place the cabbage in a serving dish and place the sliced corned beef on top. You can drizzle a spoonful or two of stock from the pot over the corned beef and cabbage, if you like. Serve with mashed potatoes and Corny Corn Muffins (see page 320). Leftover corned beef makes wonderful sandwiches.

2. Step 3

   *When we’re serving cabbage without the corned beef, we season the pot with a little bacon along with the butter: Fry 2 to 3 strips of cut-up bacon along with the butter until the bacon is about half done, then proceed with the recipe.