We Ate Far Too Much

As always, when it comes to a good corned beef and cabbage meal, we both ate far too much last night! Last night's corned beef and cabbage was tasty!

The previous time I made this meal, I attempted to cook it in more of a traditional way... everything in the same pot but each thing added at the appropriate time.  Uggg...  that was nasty. Everything took on the taste of the corned beef yet it all tasted bland because everything tasted the same.

Last night I went back to my usual way of cooking this meal... meat in a dutch oven and slow cooked at 275 degrees in the oven. I cut up an onion, added spices, and added a weak beef broth to the pot... covered it... put it in the oven.  

The remaining items are cooked separately. The potatoes are boiled but then I do a quick fry in a pan at the end with onion powder, salt, pepper and some paprika. The carrots are separate also... boiled until soft... then drain the water and add some butter and a little bit of brown sugar. The cabbage is cut into two inch blocks and then quickly fried in our largest frying pan with some oil. The cabbage softens up quickly and some of the edges get blackened... add some salt and pepper and lightly drizzle on some balsamic reduction... delicious! 

I usually make a homemade Irish Soda Bread with this meal but I didn't bother last night. I will, however, make some bread next week when we have this dish again. My Irish Soda Bread is moist like a cake because I add a lot of fat into the dough in the form of sour cream. I also add whiskey-soaked golden raisins. Plus, my bread is a little bit lighter than the traditional dense, heavy bread. After it comes out of the oven, we like to put some sweet butter on it... butter, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon. I look forward to having some of this bread next week.

That was a good meal!