St. Patrick’s Day Meal: Table Setting + Boiled Corned Beef + Potatoes

So, in addition to the Soda Bread I made, I knew I was going to have to make a sweet Irish meal for the hubs and my mother-in-law.

Now, I’ve never made Corned Beef, and I hate cabbage, so I knew right away cabbage was out of the question. I love potatoes and carrots – and those are rather Irish, too, so I decided that was going to be my complimentary side.

I also will have you know I wanted to do this sans recipe. I’ve been feeling much more comfortable in the kitchen and I figured I knew enough cooking conventions and what spices work together / what spices don’t, that I could venture out on my own.

And I did it.

And it was a SUCCESS!

Here’s the skinny. Or the beefy. However you want to look at it.

RECIPE: Boiled Corned Beef with Potatoes and Carrots (this recipe is good for 3-4 people – if you need it for more people, just double up on your essentials. The yummiers are the things that make the essentials, well, yummy.)

Your Essentials:
2.5 pounds of Corned Beef**
5 large raw carrots
10 small red potatoes

Your Yummiers:
Red Wine Vinegar
5-6 cloves of fresh garlic halved (or diced… doesn’t really matter)
2 medium onions (I used red, but some people use yellow. I just despise yellow onions)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1 tbs. Garlic powder
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
Parsley (dash)

**Now, for the corned beef, because it is a dense, salty, meat – I recommend getting it fresh. I got my corned beef from The Meat House, a local butcher here in town. It was a little pricier than if I had gotten it from the supermarket, but I think making a special meal like this, the extra price is well worth it. I got 2.5 pounds of meat for $21. Not too bad. And it was FRESH. And smelled SO GOOD. I highly recommend the Meat House – they have them in many parts of the country – visit their site if you wanna see if there’s one near you.

Anywho.

Directions:

In a large, LARGE pot, place the Corned Beef in and fill it up with water until the water is covering the meat. Once the water is just above the meat, add a few squirts of red wine vinegar. I ended up using close to 2-3 tbs. But I really just guesstimated.

Then put in your spices. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and parsley.

Put the pot on the burner and put the burner on high to bring your beef, water, vinegar, and spices to a boil.

Peel your onions of the skin and plop them in (WHOLE) on each side of the beef. Now is also the time to drop in your halved (or diced) garlic cloves.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil – let it boil on high for about 30 minutes (at least bubbling to the point where it’s not spilling over).

Reduce heat and bring to a low boil, cover, and keep it there for about 40-50 minutes a pound. [NOTE: DO take into account the 30 minutes you’ve ALREADY had it on the stove].

For me, with 2.5 pounds of beef, that was about 2-2.5 hours TOTAL. Check on the meat periodically and turn it over if it starts to float and some of the beef is above water.

During the wait time, peel your carrots and chop into pieces. Don’t make the pieces too small – I just diced them into circles.

Also, you can set the table during this time. Or decorate. Or watch basketball. I did all of those things. See?

Now, with about 30 minutes of cooking / boiling time left, remove the onions with a slotted spoon and cut them into quarters – then drop them back in the pot.

Now is also the time to drop in your diced carrots and your 10 red potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender.

When the meat and potatoes are done, remove, cut the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and place in a dish for serving.

Take out the meat, cut, and serve!

Voila!

Now, I ended up learning that I don’t personally love the texture of Corned Beef. The flavor was AWESOME and the meat was surprisingly juicy and tender. My husband and MIL LOVED it – and my husband has been eating leftovers ever since. My personal favorite were the potatoes and carrots. The flavors mixed together with the spices and meat were AWESOME – they also made great leftovers.

All in all, I would call it a success on all fronts. Everyone loved the meal, it made great leftovers, and I learned a lot along the way. I actually would love to try and cook some other meat this way.

Who here has made Corned Beef before? Successes? Failures? Comment below if you’ve made this or will make this!

xoxo, All for now.