Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Slow Cooked Corned Beef Brisket

Alternatively titled: My husband's favorite meal. :)

I typically don't do a lot of themed stuff for most holidays (with the exception of Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), but I do get excited when corned beef brisket goes on sale prior to St. Patrick's Day (by on sale, I mean $2.99/lb here in my area). I had never cooked brisket prior to meeting my husband, but it is his favorite. Maybe because his middle name is Reuben, leading to an affinity for Reuben sandwiches? Regardless, let me share with you the makings of one of his top requested meals--Slow Cooked Corned Beef Brisket with Veggies! It is hearty and delicious.

The necessary ingredients:

Ingredients needed for Corned Beef Brisket
1 rib celery, 3 carrots, 4 medium sized red potatoes, 1 head of cabbage, 1 3.5 lb brisket (can be as large as 5 lbs), bunch of cilantro, 1 onion, and salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh cut veggies

First, chop up your veggies. Remember that these babies are going to cook in the crock pot for 8 hours or so, so think chunky, or else they'll be mush. In hindsight, I could have used a few more carrots...I was just afraid of overfilling my crockpot.

Cabbage
 
Cut your cabbage into wedges, like so.

Mmmm, veggies

Then pack all your veggies into the crockpot. I start with the cabbage and then add the other veggies, trying to fill in as many gaps as possible. My crockpot is always stuffed to the gills when I make this dish.

IMG_3074

Next, attend to the brisket. Take it out of it's package and rinse it, being sure to save the packet of seasoning that comes with it.

Fat trimmed

Then I like to trim some of the thick fat off, as pictured. Some fat will be left, and that's good (and unavoidable).

IMG_3090

Place the corned beef on top of the veggies and rub the packet of seasoning on top. Season with salt and pepper. Then fill the crockpot with water. Ideally, you want to cover the veggies and the meat with water, but in this instance I did not have enough room. In fact, the amount of water pictured here is just a tad too much, because my crockpot boiled over slightly towards the end of the cooking time (but no worries, all was well in the end!)

Put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meal shreds easily with a fork, as shown below. If your meat is tough, then it probably has not cooked long enough.

IMG_3166

I like to serve this with rice, to soak up the juices!

Corned Beef Brisket with Veggies

Ahhh. I am pleasantly full from this meal as I type.

Here is the printable version for ya. :) Enjoy!

Oh, and don't forget, today is the last day to enter to win a copy of Not Your Mother's Casseroles!



Linked to Works For Me Wednesday, Things I Love Thursday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, I'm Lovin' It, Crockpot Mondays and Homemaking Link-Up.
Share/Bookmark

10 comments:

  1. Looks easy and yummy! Just right up my alley!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the recipe--but this Irish girl must add...no self-respecting Irishman would have it with rice! (always a joke between my Irish mother and French father who just wants some rice now and then!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. I love the recipe and I know my hubby would love this meal.
    2. OH MY WORD your photography is getting so good! When are you going to come to ATL and give me a lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kelley--too funny! Thanks for sharing. So, if you wouldn't eat it with rice, how would you eat it? By itself? We've done that plenty of times and it's fabulous. But I just feel like the broth is lonely without something to soak it up!

    Kathy, thanks! Girl, you better believe that if I'm in ATL, I'm coming to visit YOU! Wouldn't that be fun?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I've never made corned beef before (I usually make irish beef stew). I wanted to try it this year and in the crockpot...I'll be sure to try out your recipe for sure! How many would you say this serves? Am I safe to try a new recipe on company?! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Becky, I think the recipe would comfortably serve 4-5 with a 3.5 lb brisket. More like 6-7 with a larger piece of meat! :)
    Are you safe to try on company? I hope so! I put this in the crockpot once and went to work and when I came home the rest of the family + company had eaten every last bite! But I guess it depends on how much you like corned beef. I find it always tends to go over well with guys.

    ReplyDelete
  7. In Boston we call this a Boiled Dinner. We use turnip. potatoes, carrots and the corned beef. no one I know uses the seasoning packet or a crock pot to make it, but it is a VERY tradional meal here. The veggies are also delish left over. in the days before microwaves my mom would fry up the leftovers in lots of butter--YUMMO!! next time I make a Boiled Dinner I mat just use my crock pot:) Thanks for sharing!!

    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mmmmm. Looks delicious. I made something very similar the other day. I really need to get a bigger crock pot!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I never had this until we got married. I guess Chinese people aren't too big on Irish holidays. =p I love it though, and would have it more often if it was on sale. We get a great deal here...I think it was only 1.67/lb. Hubby just posted last week about this. he starts the slow cooker going before work...can't wait! We actually had this at my parents' house last week because my brother was craving it. He just wanted a little but you can't really buy just a little, so we went over there and had some too. Haha I'm okay with that.

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments. :) I know your time is precious, so I appreciate the time you spend reading and giving feedback.

Please be respectful of others and kind with your words.