N. Y. C. Corned Beef and Cabbage

N. Y. C. Corned Beef and Cabbage

  • Prep Time: 48 hrs
  • Total Time: 51 hrs
  • Servings: 12

    • About This Recipe

    “Here’s how to make corned beef and cabbage the right way. My thanks to my great-grandmother Delia O’Dowd and other NYC Irish Catholics who invented it. It is not normally eaten in Ireland, folks!”

    Ingredients

  • 1 (2 -6lb)corned beef brisket
  • 1teaspoonpeppercorn
  • 2dried bay leaves
  • 1 -3headfresh cabbage
  • 1 -12mediumred potatoes
  • 1 (1lb) bag fresh carrot
  • fresh parsley( Dried won’t do at all)
  • real butter( margarine won’t do at all. Besides, we now know that butter is better for us than any of the margari)
  • 1fresh garlic clove
  • 1mediumfresh sweet onion
  • yellow mustard( whatever floats your boat)
  • irish soda bread( see my Recipe #15843 recipe)
  • Harp lager beer(optional)

    • Directions

  • ————Selecting the corned beef brisket————.
  • Go to the store several days ahead of time or you will have to pick out the best of what has been picked over again and again. The best will disappear first.
  • Do not freeze.
  • Pick out a nice thick slab checking the sides to make sure it isn’t a very gristly one.
  • Feel it because some butchers fold it over hiding the gristle if there is a lot of it.
  • There will always be some gristle and it runs the length of the slab in the center.
  • The thicker the slab the better. If you are lucky, you may see some chunk style at a higher price per pound.
  • If there isn’t a spice bag in with the brisket, you will need to get some whole peppercorns (white and black) and bay leaves.
  • ————Selecting the Cabbage——————-.
  • The heavier and more solid it is, the better it is.
  • Smell it to make sure it isn’t too bitter.
  • You may have to go to another store if the whole batch has a very strong bitter smell. I have had to visit several stores to find a decent batch.
  • Keep in mind that the outer leaves will be discarded even if the store has already removed the natural outer leaves to make them look better and fresher.
  • ————–Selecting the Potatoes—————-.
  • Watch out for the red dyed ones.
  • Pick out a bag of medium to small sized ones.
  • The smaller the better.
  • If you are lucky enough to find the ones as small as salad tomatoes, they are the best.
  • ————-Selecting the Carrots———-.
  • Get the smallest bag they have unless you like carrots, because you will only use one per pot of cabbage to take any bitterness out of the cabbage.
  • Serving a bowl of carrots is a big no no on Saint Patrick’s Day.
  • Preparing and cooking the meal———————–.
  • (It’s going to take 3 hours with you there).
  • Use a large Dutch oven or stock pot that will hold everything all at once.
  • Place the brisket (best side up) in the bottom of the pot.
  • There’s no need to rinse it because nothing bad will survive what you are about to do to it and you will remove the outer marinate.
  • Add the spice packet or a teaspoonful of peppercorns and two bay leaves.
  • Cover the brisket generously with water and a bottle of beer (optional – adds flavor and is a tenderizer).
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
  • During the 2 hours————————.
  • Scrub and rinse the new red potatoes.
  • Remove any eyes and bad spots.
  • Leave as much of the peel as you can.
  • Quarter them (halve or whole if tiny).
  • Cover with water until ready for them.
  • Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage until the leaves are entirely light green, rinse and cut it into quarters through the spine so they stay together.Set aside.
  • Peel one carrot and cut it into quarters.Set aside.
  • Peel the onion and cut it into eighths.Set aside.
  • Rinse the bunch of fresh parsley and chop up just the tops into very tiny pieces.
  • I find that kitchen scissors do just fine.
  • After the 2 hours———————-.
  • Add the potatoes on top of the brisket.
  • Add water to cover everything.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add the cabbage on top of the potatoes and add onion and carrot on top of the cabbage.
  • Add water to cover everything.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Check the cabbage to see if it is tender.
  • If not, simmer another 5 minutes. You shouldn’t undercook it and it’s hard to overcook it.
  • When done———————–.
  • In a large serving bowl where you can stir the potatoes, crush the garlic clove and rub the inside of the bowl with it.
  • Place the potatoes in the bowl while still piping hot and add (at least) a quarter pound of butter and add a handful (more is better than less) of chopped fresh parsley.
  • Gently stir until butter is melted, it coats all the potato pieces and the parsley is evenly distributed.
  • Put the rest of the parsley into a tiny serving bowl for those who want to add more to their potatoes.
  • As I said, more is better.
  • Slice the brisket cross grain.
  • Let everyone help themselves, make it known that the carrot pieces are for garnish only.
  • It also reminds Catholic Irishmen that the orange carrot piece is the color of Orangemen, the people they hate.
  • If you wish to insult a Catholic Irishman, put a large full bowl of carrots on the table.
  • If you love carrots, have them at another meal on another day.
  • Hope there is leftovers for breakfast.
  • See my March 18th Breakfast! It’s a family tradition. We make sure we make enough to ensure leftovers for breakfast the next morning. Finely chopped fried corned beef and cabbage (the entire meal) and coffee is divine. We throw in any leftover parsley.

    • Reviews

  • “I’m originally from New England, and, have a wee bit of Irish in me.My mother, who was German and English, fixed our corned beef and cabbage exactly the same way when she used store bought corned beef.However, the old English corned beef is soaked in brine.You can use any kind of beef, such as chuck, sirloin, or fresh brisket, not an expensive cut.Wash it in cold water, put in pot big enough so that it can be covered with cold water, add 1 box of un-iodized salt, cover, put in refrigerator for 3 days.Turn a couple times during three days. (72 hrs. is sufficient, but, a few more or less won’t matter.)Meat will be grayish in color, but, this in no way affects the flavor. On cooking day, rinse off salt, put in pot and cover with fresh cold water.Bring to boil, then, lower heat to a simmer.No spices are added, just all the veggies incl. onions, taters, cabbage, turnip,and, maybe a parsnip or two, after the meat is fork tender. At this point, I remove the meat from pot, cover with foil, and put aside, then add the veggies. The only thing we ever drank with it was beer, and it’s one of our very favorite dishes.Just one comment.I believe the person who wrote this meant “gristle”, not grizzle.Grizzle happens to be my daughter-in-law’s maiden name.We always had rye bread with it to soak up some of the pot liquor.I’ve made myself hungry, so must go and get something to eat.”

  • “I am sure this is an excellent recipe. However I just want to comment that I was born in Dublin Ireland and we ate corn beef regularly.”

  • “WONDERFUL!!!!!I did everything as is except I used the seasoning packet provided with the meat and used 1 bay leaf + the peppercorns.The mashed garlic and butter with the potatoes was out of this world.We pour the cooking juice over everything on the plate + a little S&P and it was great. I can’t wait to have this dinner again!”

  • “I’ve made this recipe every St. Pat’s day since 2008; it’s wonderful.I use the leftovers to make your March 18th breakfast (#15844) too!Thanks so much for sharing this recipe-YUM!!!”

  • “It was as good as anone could expect corned beef and cabbage to be, but I did throw the meat in a frying pan to brown it a little and make it look less… boiled.THanks for the leftovers tip!”

  • “I can’t stop licking my fingers!!!!!! Thanks for the recipe and for taking the extra time advising the novice how to choose the ingredients. My firts but definitely not my last…… and I had leftovers for berakfast!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

  • “I was a little disappointed in this recipe. I chose it because of all the reviews it got and was surprised when I tasted the broth after the 2 hours of simmering and before I added the other ingredients. I wanted the veggies to be infused with the flavor of the stock liquid and it tasted very bland ( granted I substituted the beer for chicken broth…but still.) So I improvised and added some brown sugar and lots of salt and some mustard. By the way, about the mustard, you mention it as part of the ingredients but the list of instructions does not mention what to do with it!The potatoes with butter, garlic and parsley turned out great butlacked salt. I loved this meal…but I gave it 3 stars because the meat, veggies and liquid tasted as good as they did because of the improvisations I made.Thanks to you though I was able to at least have the yummy potatoes and also make your Irish Soda Bread which turned out excellent.”

  • “Yum!Not the first time I’ve made corned beef and cabbage, but it’s the first time my DH said, “You can make this every week!”Simple but delicious!”

  • “Great !! Thats for taking the time to share with us.”

  • “Excellent!! Followed instructions with no variations. It is true, fresh parsley is the only way to go. The potatoes were very good. Thanks to your Great Grandma & you for sharing this recipe.Seems like “Grandma’s” always have great tasting food.”

  • “Len, This recipe has is the best, hands down!! We throw a St. Patty’s Day party every year and everyone LOVES this recipe.Each year I have to make more because everyone comes hungry!!! Thanks for sharing and thanks to your great grandmother, Delia O’Dowd, for putting it together in the first place.”

  • “This is easier than it looks and so delish!The smell of this cooking draws neighbors to my house!This is now a family favorite, it’s incredible!Thanks for sharing.”

  • “Well, Len,Loved all the detail!! did use dried parsley, but had recently dried it myself from a bunch of Italian parsley.Wondering if a trip to the grocery store for the fresh herb would have realllllly have made that much difference??Loved it anyway.”

  • “By far a superior corned beef and cabbage recipe. The garlic clove rubbedin the bowl makes this a seriously tasty dish.”

  • “Great instructions, really helpful on how to buy the beef and cabbage. I wish I would have read it before I bought them! We had Boar’s Head corned beef which was good and thick, but the cabbage was soooo bitter. Yuck. Hubby didn’t notice, but I did and was really bummed as it is St. Paddy’s day and I’ve been looking forward to it all day! Next time I’ll heed your warnings about being certain to pick only the best, least bitter smelling cabbages. Btw, it is better the next day – the cabbage mellows a little. Thanks!”

  • “Great recipe!I made it for my husband on St Patrick’s Day.He said it was the best he’s had.He could have been lying but I’ll take it anyway”

  • “This was my first attempt at corned beef. Tasted good, but I thought could have been a little better. The potatoes were very good, but I would try adding some garlic and maybe some mustard seeds to the pot next time to try to make the meat and cabbage a little more flavorful. DH really enjoyed the leftover meat for sandwiches though. Thanks for sharing.”

  • “When I put this out on St. Patty’s night, my family basically did a nosedive into their plates! Those potatoes were the single greatest hit of the evening. I know I shall have to make just those alone many more times to come! By-the-way, the whole meal was to die for as well!(We gave the carrot pieces to our dogs, who don’t claim a particular religion. We felt that was safe!) Thanks so much for sharing. They may not eat Corned Beef and Cabbage in Ireland, but I do know we love it here in Jersey!”

  • “I am laughing so hard at the recipe. You are a comedian! The potatoes alone are worth their weight in gold, the best potatoes I have ever had. Of course the corned beef was amazing too. Thank you for sharing your grandmothers recipe!”

  • “I will be having my 2nd annual Corned Beef and Cabbage St. Patrick’s Day Dinner.We will have about 12 people this year.I used this recipe last year and it was a hit!It will be a tradition for years to come.I cooked it in a large roaster and bought 3 corned beefs.Last year I started the process at noon and we ate at around 7pm.The potatoes were fabulous.I used yukon gold and cooked them in a corner of the roaster to make it easier to gather them all up at the end.I was never very impressed with Corned Beef and Cabbage growing up (we had it every year). My mom just boiled it- so we were all thrilled to learn it could be so wonderful!”

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