Smoked Corned Beef and Roasted Cabbage

The Irish Americans began to celebrate their homeland and culture in their home away from home, America. And of course, there was a celebratory meal in honor of their heritage – corned beef. Though, in Ireland, bacon was the meat of choice, NOT corned beef. Corned beef is an Irish American tradition. This was served with potatoes and the most affordable vegetable, cabbage. Corned beef and cabbage seems to be an American favorite for St. Patrick’s Day, though I admit, neither are my favorites, and I rarely cook them for St. Patrick’s Day. I will cook them, on occasion, just usually NOT for St. Patrick’s Day. But because I was having a big Irish feast, and because they are popular choices, I did prepare them this year, though with a definite twist.

Larry decided to bring out the smoker and smoked the corned beef for about four hours, then he put it in the slow cooker for another four hours. It came out so tender. Before smoking it though, he washed off most of the brine (the brine is the part we don’t care for) and made a mustard and pepper rub for it. I don’t have much of the details, since the smoker is Larry’s deal. But it came out so good.

Mushy cabbage is also NOT a favorite of mine, and so often the cabbage that is prepared for St. Patrick’s Day is brown and mushy. To me, it usually tastes as bad as it smells. I don’t mind cabbage if it is cooked right though. Since we were cooking the corned beef in a different way, I decided to cook the cabbage in a different way as well. So this time I roasted it in the oven. I think I might prepare it this way from here on out.

Roasted Cabbage

This is so easy and very tasty. It’s definitely a new way to enjoy an old “classic”.

1 head green, Napa cabbage, cut into wedges

salt& pepper to taste

olive oil

garlic olive oil or roasted garlic

Preheat the oven to 400*F of 200*C.

Oil a baking sheet with olive oil and place the wedges directly onto the oiled pan. Add salt & pepper and the garlic olive oil and/or the roasted garlic.

Roast for about 40 minutes or so, or until the edges are crisp and browned, almost caramelized. And that’s it. It couldn’t be much easier than that, but it was so good. It was salty, crispy and tender all at the same time, plus it is something different, which is always appealing to me. 🙂

Walk on the wild side and branch out. Do something different. It doesn’t always have to be done the same way all the time. Try new things. Try new ideas. Be creative. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.