Corned Beef and Cabbage

[Eric]

Corned beef is in the crock-pot for some low-and-slow cooking. 

Trying this recipe, only with Killian's Irish Red instead of Guiness (it's what I had on-hand):  http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2013/03/17/guinness-crock-pot-corned-beef-cabbage/

*edited to note that Killian's is a lager and Guinness Draught is a stout, so switching could lead to unhappy results. We'll see!

[Spooky]

Sounds yummy!

[Eric]

I'm so glad I posted this, because we're cooking CB&C for a bunch of friends Saturday.  I couldn't recall the recipe.

At least, I hope this is the one we used.  haha

[Spooky]

 

[Eric]

So we bought a 6qt Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 to go with our Cuisinart 6qt slow cooker, in hopes of haiving room-enough to cook everything.  I didn't realize that most of the Instat Pot's volume is vertical, and can only be filled to about the 4qt/1gal line, max.  So, instead of using the above recipe I think I'm going with this one--which may intrigue you, Spooky.  I mean, the only liquid it calls for is two bottles of Guinness ...

I'm intrigued by the thought of braising the cabbage and cooking the veggies separately, anyway.  I got normal Guinness Draught Stout instead of his extra-stout, but hopefully that lowers the risk of the bitterness of which some complain.

We're also doing a locally-cured Hahn's ham for that one friend who doesn't eat beef (and we don't even know why she doesn't).  Hopefully I can mimic the veggies well-enough for her too.

[Eric]

So, the new recipe worked out great.  We kept getting compliments, pretty much to the point of embarrassment.  It had a nice flavor, and with careful cutting (always try to cut against the grain with brisket), it wasn't chewy and any gristle'd been dissolved.  I found a simple Guinness-based ham glaze recipe that  did very well.  I actually forgot the mustard, but it worked just fine.

I don't think corned beef is something most of our friends eat, so it was fun to treat them.  They brought a Guinness-based beef stew, a non-beer fish appetizer and edamame snack, and one couple brought a cake the man worked on most of the day:  The cake sugar was from boiled-down Guinness, and the icing had some sort of Irish whiskey base--and it was too good.  It was kind of funny to us because we all once joked that we should have a meal that was completely alcohol-based.  Bunch of lushes.

[Spooky]

My sister-in-law made vegan Shepard's Pie. It was pretty good.

She wanted to make Corned Beef and Cabbage, but my brother is on a vegan diet for health reasons. He has some serious IBS and eating meat and dairy hit him hard.