Corned Beef for St. Patrick's Day (or Any Day!)

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, which means you'll be able to find corned beef easily in the stores.  I often buy several packages and freeze the extras to use when corned beef mania strikes.  Corned beef is SUPER easy to cook - one of the prerequisites for my culinary efforts!  


Corned Beef (with Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, and Cabbage. and Mustard Sauce) 

For Beef:
1 3- to 4-lb corned beef brisket, with spice packet
1/4 c brown sugar
2 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 lb baby-cut carrots
1 small to medium head cabbage, quartered
1 large onion, quartered

For Sauce:
1 1/2 c reserved corned beef cooking liquid
1 T butter
2 T flour
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 c sour cream
2T coarse-ground Dijon mustard

Place brisket, contents of seasoning packet, brown sugar, garlic, and bay leaves in large dutch oven or stock pot; cover with water; bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer 2 hours.

Add carrots and potatoes; return to a boil, then simmer 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Add cabbage to pot; return to a boil, then simmer about 15 minutes.

Add onion to pot; return to boil, simmer about 5-10 minutes.

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of cooking liquid for the mustard sauce.


Mustard Sauce

In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Stir in flour until smooth; cook about 1 minute.  Stir in the cooking liquid and vinegar.  Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened.  Remove from heat and add the sour cream and mustard.  Serve over corned beef.

(I've made the sauce in the microwave before, and it worked out great!  It also freezes well.  I just microwave it to warm it up.)

Cabbage Rolls - Old-Fashioned Slow-Cooker Comfort Food

Now and then, That Man will request something specific for dinner, and more often than not, that specific something will be cabbage rolls.  He remembers going to a friend's house, the friend's wife making cabbage rolls, and his thinking they were the greatest thing ever!  

Because tradition has it that you should eat cabbage on New Year's Day for prosperity, I usually make cabbage rolls around that time, if not on the day itself.  Honestly, it's been quite a while since I last made cabbage rolls - probably three or more years.  Somehow, the thought of dealing with the cabbage leaves seems, well, hard.  It's really not, though the thought of them is, sort of.  

Once I decide to make cabbage rolls, the actual deal with the leaves isn't bad at all.  And I get extra wife-points for fixing one of his favorites.  So worth it!

This recipe is based on one in the original edition (1975) of Crockery Cookery by Mabel Hoffman, from the time when slow cookers were the new, trendy kitchen gadget and very few had removable crocks - yikes!  But there are a lot of very good recipes in there.  Sadly, the paperback binding on my copy is disintegrating.  I expect I'll soon have to cut the pages out, punch holes in them, and put them in a three-ring binder.  Better than losing a book I use often!

No guarantee of how "Swedish"
these are, but they are delicious!

Swedish Cabbage Rolls

12 large cabbage leaves
1 beaten egg
1/4 c milk
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t onion powder
1 lb lean ground beef
1 c cooked rice
12-oz bottle chili sauce (or 1 1/2 c ketchup)
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 T lemon juice
1 T Worchestershire sauce

There are a few ways to prepare the cabbage leaves before you fill them:

1. Immerse the leaves in a large pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, until limp; drain.  These are the instructions in the original recipe.  That's all right for about the first 4 outer leaves, but as you proceed, the leaves get tighter and tighter on the cabbage, and it gets progressively more difficult to pry them loose without tearing them, and you want them whole.
   
   
2. Freeze the whole head of cabbage overnight, then take it out to thaw in the morning.  The leaves are supposed to release from the head easily, and they're already limp enough to work with.  I don't have any firsthand experience with this method - I've only heard of it, and it sounds like it should work, but I rarely have a cabbage-sized space available in the freezer, so I haven't tried it myself.  Maybe next time - after the turkey, ham, and corned beef brisket are gone.
   
   
3. Place the whole head of cabbage in the microwave for one minute at high power.  The next 3 or 4 leaves will release fairly easily.  This is the method I've used the last few times I've made cabbage rolls.  I just repeat until I have the number of leaves I need.  They aren't as limp as they would be with the first method, which is quite okay with me because they're going to be in the slow cooker most of the day, so I'd rather the leaves start out more on the raw side.

Combine egg, milk, onion, garlic, and seasonings.  Add meat and rice and combine well.  Place about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in the center of each leaf.  Fold in the sides and roll ends over the meat, kind of like making a small burrito.  Place in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, and pour over the cabbage rolls.  Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. 

I serve them with dinner rolls or french bread.