Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

No more embarrassing, dirty house pictures!  Did you by chance check out the after pictures?  You should!  Everything has been put back to normal and life as we know it is moving on in the right direction.

Now for a recipe.

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

Yield: 6 servings

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Ingredients:

• 1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 3 carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound small red potatoes, halved if large - I didn't have any and I wished I did
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 3 - 4 pound corned beef brisket, plus pickling spices
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 -2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 12 ounces dark beer - Guinness should do the trick
• 1/2 head of cabbage, cut into 1 1/2-inch wedges
• 1 apple, sliced
• grainy mustard, for serving

Instructions:

1. In a 5 - 6 quart slow-cooker, place celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, and thyme.  Place corned beef, fat side up on top of vegetables.
2. In a small bowl, mix together your pickling spices, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar , 1 - 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.  Pour over the corned beef.
3. Pour in the beer.  Cover and cook on high until corned beef is tender, 4 1/2 hours (or 8 1/2 hours on low).  Arrange cabbage and apple over corned beef, cover and continue to cook until cabbage is tender, 45 minutes (or 1 1/2 hours on low).  Thinly slice corned beef against the grain and serve with vegetables, cooking liquid and grainy mustard.

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Servings: 1

Calories:  845

Total Fat: 52.4

Carbohydrates: 34.9 mg.

Sodium:  3177 mg.

Protein:  52.6 g.

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Are you as shocked as I am by the amount of calories in this dish?  Corned beef alone has around 680 calories.  Yikes!  It's a good thing I'm not really a fan of corned beef and if you are a fan, it's a good thing St. Patrick's Day is only once a year!

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  Is there a special dish you make to celebrate?

Saint Patricks Day "Celebration" Menu

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner.  We like to celebrate with our parents.  About the word "celebrate", we don't necessarily celebrate the holiday, we just like to eat and prepare the Irish food and drink their Guinness.  I'm pretty sure Donovan's family has no Irish in them but I have a teeny tiny bit, hell, I'm not even sure it's enough to claim. Nevertheless, we get together and nobody can stop us, not even Saint Patrick himself.  Who does he think he is anyway?  I'll tell you what, he didn't convert me to religion but he certainly converted me to drinking his Irish beer.  You know something, he's not even Irish!  He's from Britain.  His story is very interesting.  For those of you who are interested, check out Wiki.

I found this post in my archives and thought I would dig it out, add a few more recipe's to it and share it with you...again.  It's a mouthwatering, good smelling meal.  What I'm trying to say is that you will use all of your senses throughout this "celebration" meal.  You should try it for yourself and you will find that I'm telling you the truth.

St. Patty's left overs - Open Faced "Reuben" Sandwich

With St. Patrick's Day over, what do we do with that left-over corned beef? Here's what I did:

Open faced "Reuben" Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
Left over corned beef or 12 ounces deli sliced corned beef, chopped
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 (16 ounce) can sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
1 (8 ounce) package cooked egg noodles
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup cubed rye bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast until dry. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix together the soup, milk, onion, corned beef, and mustard. Set aside.
Spread sauerkraut evenly in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread noodles over sauerkraut. Spoon soup mixture over noodles, and sprinkle with cheese. In a small bowl, mix melted butter with rye bread, and sprinkle mixture over cheese. Your dish will be very full.

Cover, and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Remove cover, and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Use your left over rye bread and slice it, put it on your plate and spoon your "Reuben" on top for an open faced sandwich.

Happy St. Pats!

Tonight was our annual St. Patrick's Day dinner. Another successful dinner party to mark the books.

The menu consisted of:
Corned Beef
Cabbage and Apple
Colcannon
Irish Soda Bread
Guinness
Irish Cream Bundt Cake

Here are my favorite recipes: