St. Patrick's Day

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day...

I'm really more Scot than Irish but I always look forward to celebrating St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage. It's more an early colonial American dish rather than traditional Irish, but it's been a St. Patrick's Day tradition in our family as long as I can remember. The preparation begins about two weeks before. The actual cooking begins on St. Paddy's Day...

Rich's Corned Beef and Cabbage
    3 to 4 lbs. beef brisket
    2 tblsp. pickling spices
    1 tsp. ground black pepper
    3 garlic cloves
    1/2 cup coarse salt
    1 cup red wine
    1 to 2 tblsp. paprika (optional)*
    cabbage, carrots and small red or white potatoes as needed
Place the brisket in a glass container. Mix the dry ingredients and apply to both sides of brisket as a dry rub. Refrigerate overnight. Next morning, peel and chop the garlic, sprinkle with about 1 tsp. salt and crush with the tines of a dinner fork until garlic is well mashed. Add garlic to wine and pour over brisket. Add enough water to cover. Let the beef marinate in the refrigerator for 10 to 12 days, turning daily as necessary to make sure all sides of the meat marinate in the spice and liquid marinade.
Rinse meat with cold water. Place in a roasting pan and cover with fresh water. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, adding quartered cabbage, carrots and small potatoes when timely to make sure they're cooked through when beef is done and tender.
* Since there is no chemical cure used in my recipe, the paprika (along with the red wine) is added to provide a bit of the pinkish-red color found in comercially cured corned beef.

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