Well believe it or not, it is already mid-March and this upcoming weekend is St. Patrick’s Day. Not only is St. Patrick’s day a day to have fun and drink green beer, but also a day for those of you that are Irish (like M and I) to pay homage to our heritage and our ancestors. Our family actually came over to America during the potato famine like so many Irish families did. They had to work really hard to prove themselves in America and helped with building many things like the canals and railroad systems we have today. St. Patrick’s Day is a way to honor them.
Every St. Patrick’s Day growing up ,our mom would make corned beef and cabbage for dinner. She would also boil some potatoes, carrots, and onions with the meal.
Our local milk brand, Byrne Dairy, would sell green milk. Similar to the shamrock shake, this was mint-flavored milk, except it tasted a thousand times better!! {They stopped selling this green milk like 10 years ago so if you are reading this now, Byrne Dairy, bring back the green milk! } Although it wouldn’t do me much good out here in Cali so maybe I should be asking this of Berkeley Farms or Clover Farms. Along with the green milk and traditional corned beef and cabbage, my mom also made us these cut-out sugar cookies in shamrock shapes with green frosting and green sugar sprinkles for when we came home from school.
For the last three years, I happened to visit my parents in Syracuse with my boyfriend on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. My mom made us the corned beef dinner when we visited so my boyfriend also has an appreciation for the meal. Armed with my mom’s recipe, I attempted to make my first corned beef and cabbage meal over the weekend. I made it a weekend early just so I could share it with all of you.
I was worried at first that my grocery store wouldn’t carry the corned beef brisket or round. I guess I never looked for it before because every store had this including Target, Costco and Safeway. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!
Does anyone else have something traditional they do on St. Patrick’s Day?
If not, why not start one this year by making this meal. It is really easy to make and delicious. Did I mention leftover corned beef is perfect to make reuben sandwiches?
- 2 lbs. corned beef brisket or round
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cooking onion
- 1 crushed clove of garlic
- 7-10 peppercorns
- 6 carrots
- 5-6 white or gold potatoes (small to medium sized)
- 1 head of cabbage
- 2-3 small onions
- Take corned beef out of package and dry with a paper towel. If there is fat on the back of corned beef, you can cut it down with a sharp knife. Leave a small amount on there to add flavor to the cooking broth (Be careful with your hands!)
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, place brisket. Fill pot with cold water so that the brisket is covered with water, plus an extra inch of water.
- Cut cooking onion in fourths and add to water along with bay leaf, peppercorns, and garlic.
- Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer (covered) for one hour and forty minutes.
- Fifteen minutes before the timer end, start to prepare the vegetables. Peel carrots and cut them in halves or thirds. Wash the potatoes and cut them in half. Peel onion and cut in fourths. Rinse cabbage and peel off first layer. Cut into eight slices with part of the core divided in each to hold the cabbage together while it cooks.
- Skim fat off the top of the corned beef water and add carrots, potatoes, and onion. Cook for twenty minutes with lid closed.
- Pull out corned beef and place on a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Skim additional fat off the top.
- Add cabbage to water with vegetables and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Slice the corned beef in thin slices, and drain vegetables (or pull vegetables out with a slotted spoon or tongs). Serve on a a platter and enjoy!
Source– Adapted from our Mom!
