52 Weeks of CRaZY Crock Potting

Happy almost St. Patrick's Day!  We're not Irish and we don't care much about the wearing-o-the-green, but we will never pass up the opportunity for Corned Beef and Cabbage!  My kids beg for this and we probably have it two or three times a year.

For a crock pot recipe, you can't get much easier that this!

CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE

INGREDIENTS

1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half

1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4-5 small red potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 or 1/4
1 pound baby carrots
2 stalks of celery, quartered
3 cups water
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges



DIRECTIONS
Open the corned beef and set it in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Do NOT rinse it.  Some recipes call for you to rinse it.  Don't.   If your corned beef came with a small packet of seasoning, open it and sprinkle on top of the corned beef.  Place the onion, potatoes, carrots and celery on top of the corned.  Top with the cabbage wedges.  The crock pot will be quite full.  Squeeze as much as you can in.  Pour the water on top. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
NOTE-

I usually buy my corned beef from Costco....whatever brand they are carrying that year.

You want it to have some nice marbling but NOT layers and layers of fat.

For whatever reason, this year, the corned beef came with the season already spread on the corned beef.  But some manufacturers jus slap the meat in a package and include the seasonings separately. It will usually look like this -

Once you've put your corned beef in the Crock Pot, just opening the seasonings and sprinkle them on top.

HOT TIP: If you don't like your house to smell like cooked cabbage, place your crock pot on a small table on the back porch or in the garage.......but come on, the smell is just for one day!

Oh...and if you are a college student without a crock pot, you can make this by putting the meat in a pot on the stove, covering it with water and simmering for 2 hours, then adding the vegetables (except for the cabbage) and simmering another 50 minutes and then adding the cabbage for an additional 10-15 minutes....or ask your mom to make it again when you get home.

When finished, we scoop out the vegetables and slice the meat across the grain.  Serve with mustard along side.  Yummmmm!

ENJOY!