A New Take

I am attempting a new take on an old standard. The St. Patrick's day staple of corned beef and cabbage. With pale skin, red hair and freckles it is no secret I am Irish. But I have never understood why my people settled on a signature dish of boiled meat. And if it has to be a boiled dish why can't it be the Dublin Lawyer or Dressed Crab?

Alas I have spent the past 7 years opening my front door to the familiar knock of my mother's fist roll to be greeted with a Tupperware filled with her leftover boiled corn beef, red potato, carrot and cabbage mixture. And for the past 7 years I have surmised that I am just not a big fan of this dish. It is no reflection of my mother's cooking ability; though that has been brought into question over the years. There was the liver topped with tomato sauce and American cheese slices announced as Veal Parmesan after all. But what she does with the corned beef and cabbage is no different from what anyone else who is reading the directions on the corned beef packaging is doing. It occurs to me this may be why so much alcohol is consumed on St. Patty's Day.

So, I am going to tackle this corned beef and cabbage on my own terms and see if it gets any better.

I have my corned beef and my “cabbage” - Brussels sprouts - and some Irish beer of course.

I can't really decide what to do with the sprouts but I know just what to do with the beef and beer. I brown my beef in olive oil and crack some pepper over the meat.

Then, I add the beer and a bay leaf or two or three.

Then I cover and place in a 325 degree oven for 1.5 hours.

Now on to what to do with the “cabbage”...I look around the kitchen for inspiration and see a green apple. Surely we can do something with this combination...

I core and roughly chop the apple and saute it with a shallot.

Then I add my equally roughly chopped sprouts with some of the juice from the meat cooking and a little bit of cider vinegar, like a half of teaspoon.

Wow this is really starting to come together!

When it is time to take the meat out, I let it set for a few minutes. I plate the sprout/apple combo then top with slices of the beef.

And it just looks like it is missing something...

So I add 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to the remaining beer/beef juices and make a yummy sauce...

OK, that is much better! I did have to be careful since Corned Beef is already so salty, I did not add any salt throughout the dish. I am going in for a taste...it is no Dublin Lawyer, but I like the new take on the boiled standard I have been eating for years! I would love to know what you think??

I would end this with May the Luck of the Irish be With You; but I have never understood that saying either...as history tells us, we Irish have had some pretty unlucky times. Another testament to being known for our whiskey and beer I suppose!