Let me start out with full disclosure: I am not Irish. I am American mutt, of course, but probably couldn’t come up with even a teeny-tiny bit of Irish in my heritage to save my own life. Matt doesn’t think he has any Irish background either (although if anyone would know it would be Aunt Kathy), and Cameron, well, he was sort of out of the running from the beginning.
That doesn’t keep us from enjoying fun holidays and delicious food heritage. On Cinco de Mayo we like to get as Mexican as we can (no latino heritage either) and on Bastille Day (or around there) we love to pull together a little Duck confit and feel properly frenchified. And here we are, St. Patrick’s Day, throwing our decidedly un-Irish selves wholeheartedly in the direction of yummy American Irish food. AKA Corned Beef and Cabbage.
I ran across this column in our local newspaper (Sweet Basil and the Bee). Nancy Lindahl and Marriane Brenner cowrite this column and it is always loads of fun – local food, gardening, recipes and trips to the farmer’s market. I always look forward to it on Wednesdays! Anyhow, last week I read this Brisket recipe and decided to give it a try as a little change-up to our traditional corned beef dish. Brisket is of course, Corned Beef that has not been Corned (salted/brined). I also created my own little version of Colcannon (potatoes and cabbage) with carmelized leeks, onions, cabbage and blue cheese thrown in. Yum.
Two more preface items before I begin: 1) The Brisket, while delicious, we didn’t find to taste exceptionally Irish traditional (or our opinion of Irish traditional) – it tasted more like a meltingly tender, high-end pot roast. 2) This dish takes a looooong time (you’ll need to make sure you start it at least 4 hours in advance, maybe more). Ideal for a work-at-home day.
Enough jabbering, Rebekah!!!
Here it is… for actual details, refer to the recipe here:
Start with beef brisket. Mine was 2.6 lbs – so smaller than the recipe size. Salt, pepper, and sear in oil:
…until it’s crusted with a lovely deep mahogany color.
Soak your dried Porcinis in warm water to soften them…
And slice onions to saute in the leftover searing oil:
Cook them till golden – then separate out half:
…and yes, they are as crazy-tasty as they look. Put the seared brisket back in the pot over the remaining onions and cover with the half you just pulled out.
Then add your key ingredient…
Guinness. You can’t get much more Irish than that. Pour it in!
Put the entire thing in the oven (with lid on) for about 3 hours at 350 F. Yup – walk away and enjoy yourself. You could hang out with your kitchen helper:
Until he realizes you are NOT making pie and goes off to play with tractors. Or, you could sample one of these:
And sit out on the porch (or by the fire, depending on your weather).
A couple hours in (oh, you thought we were done?), make your Colcannon! Potatoes first of course:
Boil those. And we’ll be using these in-season beauties too…
Now saute these in butter through these four yummy stages…
I deglazed with a bit of vermouth – couldn’t resist getting all the carmelized goodness off the bottom of the pan and into my dish.
Drain and smash your potatoes (skins and all) with a bit of half and half (no butter needed)…
Stir in the carmelized leek, onion, cabbage:
…and sprinkle blue cheese (Stilton if you have it!) on the top. Stick it in the oven just as you pull out your braised beef…
Looking good! Take out the brisket, skim off the fat, reduce the sauce by rapidly boiling. Here’s our beef brisket resting happily:
And to be even more Irish-ey – Soda bread…
And don’t forget to wash it all down with one of these…
The Colcannon was SO good. It may be my best “made-up” recipe to date.
PS – This recipe is as good as gluten free (both of them are) – just use your favorite gluten free beer instead of Guinness.
PPS – St Patrick didn’t write it, but it’s very Irish and the old tune is associated with St Paddy himself – one of the best hymns ever, Be Thou My Vision.
PPPS – Guinness and Graphic Design: one of the oldest logos (and trademarks!) ever. Yup.




















































by rebekah
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