I am a touch Irish so we celebrate. Not with green beer or shamrocks but with food! I wanted Shepard’s Pie and potato leek soup, He wanted corned beef and cabbage. I don’t much care for corned beef or cabbage. He rarely has a request so I granted his wish. This was my first time to make the corned beef so I got excited. Since this was a first for me I got the pre packaged version. It’s just the meat with a spice packet but I don’t keep those spices on hand. I made a quick call to my Momma and she told me to boil it. Easy peasy! A swim thru my sea of magazines yielded me a new way to make cabbage. Another easy peasey! I got really excited about how easy this would be. The internet said I could cook the roast in the crockpot. Another win for me. Reality set in about 2 hours in.
I don’t know who has a crock pot that heats up instantly but it’s not this gal. After 2 hours on high, the liquid wasn’t even all the way warm. I wasn’t trying to eat at midnight so I had to pivot. I had to sort my way thru the pot cupboard to find the one pot that has the same dimensions as the crock pot. I didn’t find it. I got close enough to fit the hunk of meat and the bits of cabbage. No, I didn’t put all the cabbage in. Boiled cabbage is high on my list of NO. Let’s talk about what I did do.
I roasted my beautiful Brassica oleracea. Did you know cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale are cousins? I didn’t realize there were so many. I have been roasting the veggies for ages. Toss or brush with olive oil, sprinkle on the seasonings and BAM, tasty veg. Roasted broccoli has become the favorite way to have it. Roasted carrots almost turn into dessert. Back to the cabbage.
I cut mine into 8 wedges, next time I will only do 6 or get a bigger cabbage. The recipes I found had all these toppings which didn’t go with the corned beef. I will be trying those recipes as I have been converted to a cabbage liker. I decided to just be basic; brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The recipe calls this a steam roast. For the initial cook time the baking sheet is wrapped with foil in a 475-500 degree oven. This keeps the steam in to soften up the cabbage. For the last part, the part that will make the magic, take the foil off and sear those wedges. The main house has a gas oven, 400 degrees is closer to 425 so I don’t set it past 425. Whatever your highest heat is, do it. This is the sit and watch phase of the cooking. As soon as the bottom starts to brown, flip them to the other cut side. The bottom that is now the top will continue to get sexy so don’t let them go to far.
The corned beef ended up taking 4 hours to get finished, not including the crock pot time. I really wanted to make the liquid into a gravy but it wasn’t tasty. I had used homemade chicken and beef stock instead of water but that spice packet was tiny. It was too tiny to carry all of the liquid I had to use. I was also thinking about either a horseradish or mustard dip to go with but it was deemed unnecessary.
The highlight of this meal, for me, was that roasted cabbage. The edges were crispy and the middle was tender. The house didn’t stink. A true cabbage win! I needed that win. I think the meat could have been better but he said it was perfect. This was my first time to boil meat. I don’t know what I was expecting. The meat needed slicing with the electric knife, it was very firm. I may have been hung up on it being brisket. My mind has a very specific idea about brisket and this wasn’t it. Yes, traditional brisket gets sliced but not with a power tool. Did I mention that this has never been a favorite of mine? So the next night I took myself out to my local “Irish pub’ and I was so disappointed. Having been in a pub in Ireland, this place fell short. It was never true to but the food used to be good enough that it didn’t matter. Two disappointing dinners in a row had me running for a grilled cheese sammich and some tomato soup. They also left me with zero will to cook. I have been living on steak and veggie salads. We will talk about that next time.
Enjoy your kitchen! Try new things!
Ali's Kitchen 