Happy St. Patty's Day

Well today is St Patricks Day and despite my husbands reservations we are all in green. This is a difficult day to deal with because my husband is Italian and the Italians traditionally do not like the Irish. But the kids enjoy the holiday and want to wear green and talk about leprechauns. So I did what any good mother would do, dressed the kids in green and even let my oldest wear his leprechaun hat to school today! But I decided to take it a step farther today. I am venturing into the world of Irish cooking today. So what is the one thing you are suppose to eat today?? Corned beef and cabbage. So thats what I am making. Albertsons had their entire stock of corned beef briskets on sale 50% off. I mean really...how can you pass that up? So I bought 2! But now I am faced with the challenge of making something tasty from this hunk of meat sitting in my fridge. Not to mention the cabbage that I absolutely hate. So I have done some research and thinking and decided on a nice spice rub concoction.

1/2c salt
1/8c pink salt
2T brown sugar
1T whole black peppercorns
1T mustard seeds
1T corriander seeds
1t allspice or 1T allspice berries
1/2T ground ginger
3 bay leaves
3lb corned beef brisket
water
1 yellow onion, sliced
5-10 carrots, thick sliced
1/2-1 head cabbage cut into wedges
baby white potatoes
parsley
1-3T butter

I ran all of this through my very handy coffee/spice grinder (dont worry I only use it for spices) and get a nice smooth consistency. I have rubbed it all over my beef and am letting it hang out in the fridge. After getting the kids from school I will place it in my lovely dutch oven and cook it for a couple of hours in the oven on a low heat. The cabbage is still giving me hives though. I really do not like cabbage. I do not want to eat cabbage today, but Alex likes it so I guess I will suck it up. I do know that I have some small white potatoes I am going to roast and eat with this. So I guess Alex's Grandpa Joe will just have to roll over in his grave because tonights dinner is all Irish on an Irish holiday and you know what? I don't feel bad about doing it!!

Directions:
Mix first 10 ingredients in a coffee or spice grinder. Rub generously over brisket and keep in the coldest part of the fridge for a couple of days.


Using a dutch oven or slow cooker place brisket and cover with water. Cook slowly for 8-10 hours. During the last hour add onions and carrots. Continue to cook for 45 minutes. Add cabbage and cook for 15 minutes.


Meanwhile place baby potatoes in a pot of salty boiling water. Cook til tender, about 10-15 minutes. Drain and toss with parsley and butter.


Pull the brisket out and slice thinly. Serve with cabbage mixture and potatoes.

So here we are several hours later and this is the final result. The corned beef cooked for about 5 hours in the slow cooker. In the last hour I added the onions and carrots. And then with 15 minutes left I added in the wedged cabbage. I did not want soggy cabbage. That is the last thing I wanted to eat, soggy gym sock smelling cabbage. And it was slightly al dente. I even ate some of it! Go figure. The beef was slightly tough, and while Alex tried to tell me that corned beef isn't always tender, I want to try it again with the other corned beef in the freezer and make it more tender. But the flaovrs.....spot on! The cabbage soaked in just enough flavor and water to give it a masked cabbage taste and yet still be toothsome. The carrots....severely underdone. But oh well. Cant win them all right? So heres the verdict: We like it. For an Italian family we thoroughly enjoyed our St Patricks Day. So much so that I think Alex is ready for me to do it again. There was only enough leftover for one sandwich!!