Easy & Delicious Corned Beef (crock pot then bake)
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!
The week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day features Corned Beef, Potatoes, & Cabbage on fantastic sales at your local Grocery Store. It would be crazy to not take advantage of the great sale prices that you can find on these items! There are tons of things you can make (especially with those potatoes & cabbages) but of course what you need to make right now is some Corned Beef!
The “easiest” way to make Corned Beef is to just throw it with that little seasoning package right into some boiling water for about 3 hours, maybe throw in the potatoes & cabbage for the last 15-30 minutes or so, serve with some spicy mustard and call it St. Patrick’s Day. That is how I ate Corned Beef for St. Patrick’s Day growing up – nothing wrong with it (except I hated the boiled potatoes, wasn’t really a fan of the super soggy cabbage, and always felt the meat left something to be desired). Last year I made a pretty gosh-darn good Corned Beef by putting it in the Crock Pot & then cooking the veggies on the side (we even made it twice). I am always on the quest for great recipes, and knew that we could take it up even another level if we tried – and it just so happened that my (future) Maid of Honor said she had a killer family recipe…
Corned Beef with all the flavor you crave (and more) – a deliciously tender cooked piece of meat (in the crock pot: no fuss while you are gone all day) then slathered with a spicy sweet mixture and baked for a bit for a sweet delicious glazed finish… HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
- 1 (3-4 lb) raw corned beef brisket (with pickling spices included)
- 1 lb of baby carrots (unless you really want to chop up 1lb of big carrots)
- 1 lb whichever potatoes you enjoy most, large diced (butter potatoes get too mushy)
- 1 sliced onion
- 1 bottle of stout beer
- Hot water as needed
- 1/8 cup spicy brown mustard
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 2 T horseradish
- Place the corned beef into the bottom of a large slow cooker. Scatter the pickling spice over the brisket. Layer the carrots, potatoes, and onion atop the brisket. Pour the stout beer into the slow cooker. Add enough hot water to the slow cooker to cover the brisket by at least 1 inch.
- Cook on Low until the brisket reaches the desired consistency, 7 to 9 hours will be fine. Remove the brisket from the slow cooker to a rectangular glass pan. (set veggies aside, might need to throw them in the microwave in a bit to re-heat).
- Make a paste-like sauce of the brown sugar, horseradish, spicy brown mustard, and some juices from the slow cooker, rub and cover the top of the brisket. Place glass pan in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes (watch to not over cook – feel free to tent with aluminum foil).
- Slice the brisket across the grain. Serve with the vegetable mixture, cabbage (see blow or boil in the corned beef cooking liquid while meat is in the oven) and maybe even the liquid from the slow cooker.
Serve with Roasted Cabbage: cut head of cabbage into 8 wedges (leaving some core attached to each piece). Arrange on foil-lined pan & brush with a 50-50 mixture of Olive Oil & Lemon Juice & sprinkle salt/pepper. Repeat on the other side, the roast at 400-450 degrees for 15 minutes, then flip & allow to brown (you can do this at the same time you are finishing your meat – just cook meat at a slightly higher temp; it will be fine)
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One Year Ago – DIY Bailey’s (cheaper and healthier and just as yummy as any store-bought Irish Liqueur)
Two Years Ago – Homemade Ranch Dressing (a favorite: we still make it all the time, but usually never even follow a recipe anymore!
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And I leave you with this, Today’s Question of the Day… What is your favorite recipe that you have ever received from a friend?