Corned Beef

Yesterday was the day of corned beef, which, since I don't drink, is how I think of St. Patrick's Day. We had a few friends over for dinner and had a great time. In fact, I laughed so much that my cracked rib that had been feeling much, much better started hurting again. It was worth it.

I actually based my corned beef on a recipe I found online, but I can't find it now, and honestly I sort of made it my own anyway so I don't feel too guilty about not linking to it.

Crock Pot Corned Beef
5 pound corned beef with spice packet*
1 can/15 oz beef broth**
1/2 C. red wine***
3-4 T mustard****
1/3 C. brown sugar
12 oz water
8-12 red potatoes, quartered or sixthed (new word!) depending on how big they are. You want bite-size pieces
20-30 baby carrots, halved
1 onion, eighthed (I like making up words)
1/2 head of cabbage, chopped into medium-size pieces

Chop carrots and onion and place in the bottom of the crock pot. Cut most of the fat off of the fatty side of the corned beef. I was injured while doing this, so be careful! Knives are sharp! It's very annoying to be without the use of one of my thumbs.

Place beef in crock pat, fat side down. Sprinkle seasonings from packet over the corned beef (you can also use a tablespoon or so of pickling spices). Smear 2/3 of the mustard over the corned beef. Pour the broth and red wine over the beef. Mix the brown sugar and water together and pour over the beef. THEN, flip the beef over so the fatty side is facing up (because, despite your preparations, there will still be some fat) and smear the rest of the mustard on that side. This will keep the good stuff from drying out.

Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Remove beef from pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Remove carrots and onions from pot into a bowl to be mixed with cabbage and potatoes later. Your crock pot will probably be about 2/3 full of broth. Put chopped potatoes in a large stock pot and pour the broth over the potatoes. Fill the pot the rest of the way with water until the potatoes are covered by about 2-3 inches of liquid. I also added about a tablespoon of kosher salt. Bring liquid to a rapid boil and boil potatoes for 20 minutes. Test potatoes. If they are almost done, but still a little tough, it's time to throw in the chopped cabbage. Boil potatoes and cabbage for 20 more minutes. Mix potatoes and cabbage with the onions and carrots, slice the corned beef and serve.


* I realize most corned beefs are smaller, but I found a big one on sale and snapped it up. Adjust recipe accordingly.
** I used reduced sodium, but like it matters. This is a corned beef, people. Sodium restrictions have no place here.
*** The recipe I found called for a can of beer here, but I had no beer. I did have red wine.
**** The recipe called for yellow, but we only had dijon. Frankly, I like the dijon. I bet brown deli mustard would have been even better. Next time...