CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK'S DAY WITH FOOD

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I'm not Irish, but I'll never give up a chance to celebrate a holiday. And what better way to celebrate a holiday than with food?!

Corned beef and cabbage is the classic dish for St. Patrick's Day, and I have a slow cooker recipe that's super easy. I'll admit corned beef used to scare the hell outta me. It was one of those meats my Nana used to make in a pressure cooker and it took hours. No way was I ever going to devote an entire day to cooking, much less use a pot that I always believed had the potential to explode in my face. (For the record, I know pressure cookers are amazing, but the amount of skill needed to use one is beyond my realm of comprehension.)

But crockpots I can do. Crockpots are mothers' little helpers. Crockpots are God's way of saying, I know you do all the cooking for the family, so here's a little something to make your life easier.

First rule if you do not own a crockpot: BUY A CROCKPOT!

Trust me on this. It will become your new best friend. You're welcome.

Rule #2: Go to the grocery store and buy: 

2-3 lb. corned beef brisket WITH a spice packet included. This is important because an already-prepared spice packet makes your life easier and that's our goal here.

1 head of green cabbage 

2 lbs. Red potatoes (or baby ones, but the key is using a waxy potato because they hold their shape better.)

1 package of baby carrots

1 onion

1 bottle of Guinness beer (Yes, beer, that's not a typo.)



Are you ready to cook this bad boy? Here we go:

Chop the onion, halve your potatoes, and throw those babies in the bottom of the crockpot.

Lay that gorgeous slab of beef on top.

Pour 3 cups of water and 1 cup of Guinness on top. (Drink the rest of the Guinness.)

Sprinkle that magical spice packet over everything.

Cook this monster for 4-6 hours on HIGH or 8-12 hours on LOW.

Go do whatever it is you need to do without having to worry about what the f*ck is for dinner that night.

Return when the cooking time is done. Don't fret that the previously gorgeous meat has turned a yucky shade of grey. It will be a lovely shade of pink inside.

Chop that head of cabbage up, throw it around the meat, and cook another 30-45 minutes until the cabbage is tender.

Ta da! DONE!

See how easy that was? But tell your family you slaved over a hot stove all day anyway, so they'll handle clean-up while you go take a luxurious bubble bath.


A few notes:

If you're an insomniac and prefer to do your slow cooking at night, then by all means do so. You can cook it on HIGH for 7-8 hours and then simply turn it to WARM in the am after tossing in the cabbage.

If you've banned all alcohol from ever entering the house, feel free to substitute either 4 cups of water, or 2 cups of water and 2 cups of low-sodium beef broth.

Fear not that the veggies will become mushy. The fact that they're on the bottom and left undisturbed should guarantee they'll hold their shape. If not, well, a little mush never hurt anyone.


ENJOY AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!




Tiffany N. York is a romance author who doesn't particularly love cooking, but has to come up with something every night in order to feed her always-hungry teenage boy. You can visit her website at: http://www.tiffanynyorkauthor.com