Corned Beef and Colcannon

Happy St. Patty's Day all! I am a lover of corned beef, I'm not sure exactly why I only make it this time of year, probably because it's easily available at the store...and on sale! I usually make corned beef in the crock pot - with lots of water to draw out the salt.

Crock Pot Corned Beef
1 corned beef, rinsed
spice packet from corned beef
1 T dijon mustard
1/4c cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 can beer
water

Place rinsed corned beef in the bottom of the crock pot. Mix spice packet, mustard and vinegar in a small bowl and pour over beef. Add beer, bay leaves and enough water to cover beef completely. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Take out of crock pot and let sit for 15 min or so. Scrape off fat top and slice into thick pieces.

I know the "classic" combination is with cabbage of some sort. For a while we usually went with cole slaw, mainly because boiled cabbage is just gross. Then last year I found a recipe for Colcannon - a mashed potato, cabbage and cheese creation that is wonderful!

Colcannon
1 lb red potatoes
1/4 head of cabbage shredded
1 c grated cheddar cheese (I used Cabot Sharp Extra Light but Irish cheddar would be good here too)
1/4c light butter (like Brummel and Brown)

Boil potatoes in lots of salted water for 20 minutes or until soft. While potatoes are boiling, add shredded cabbage to crock pot with corned beef. This adds a somewhat beefy flavor to the cabbage and since the crock pot isn't boiling, the cabbage doesn't get gross and smelly. I kicked up the heat on the crock pot to high at this point and let the cabbage swim until just after it stops being bright green, about 5 minutes.

Once potatoes are done, drain and mash with butter, salt and pepper. Add grated cheese and cabbage and stir to combine. Adjust for seasoning. Serve with cabbage.

Yum! Now you can't make corned beef for one person with out having left overs. So this morning I made corned beef hash, after dragging my butt to the gym to make up for all of this. This is where planning is a very good skill when it comes to cooking. I knew that I wanted to make hash with my left overs so before I mashed my potatoes last night, I set aside a few for the hash this morning.

Now when it comes to hash browns, my step father is the best. He really has an understanding about what makes good hash browns and great breakfasts in general. When I lived at home, Saturday morning breakfasts were the best! So I'm taking some of my pointers for this hash today from him. The important thing to remember about hash is that you cannot use raw potatoes, since they are bigger chunks than the shredded hash browns.

Corned Beef Hash and Eggs
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 green pepper, chopped
3 small red potatoes, boiled
2 slices corned beef
2 eggs

Place onion and pepper in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper over medium to low heat. Let sweat. Meanwhile, chop potatoes into medium sized cubes (about 1/8-1/4 of the potato). Add to pan. Chop corned beef into cubes that are about the same size as the potatoes. Boost heat and allow hash to brown. This step takes a while, more so, because I'm impatient but it is very important. A hash isn't a hash without browning. Once the hash starts to brown, cook eggs in a separate smaller skillet to your liking - I'm a over medium sort of person. Plate up the hash with eggs on top and enjoy!!

So these aren't that brown either, but I think that's pretty good for me!!