Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day has always been an awesome day for me because it is the day before my birthday. In fact, my Mom was in labor with me all day on St. Patty's Day and I finally decided to make my appearance 49 minutes late. Oh well, we're only a little bit Irish anyway. :)

Every year for as long as I can remember I have had corned beef & cabbage on St. Pat's. There's just no other alternative. (OK, possibly in college, when I was poor and was at the bar by 4pm I may have skipped on the traditional Irish fare.) This year I was late picking up my corned beef brisket. I even forgot to put it on the last menu. So when I got home today at 3pm I had to cook our meal in a new way instead of my usual crockpot method.

I will try a recipe from anywhere - magazine, friend's referral, or a newspaper ad. That is where I found the recipe I used (and modified, of course) tonight. It turned out delicious and so I wanted to share.

Mustard Glazed Corned Beef with Roasted Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots

Ingredients:
1 boneless corned beef brisket (2-3 lbs) with seasoning packet
8 cloves of peeled and crushed garlic
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
2 c. water
8 tbsp. butter
1 c. green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c. horseradish or horseradish sauce
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 head of green cabbage, cored and cut into wedges
6 red potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1-2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut in half
1/3 c. dijon mustard
1/4 c. brown sugar

1. Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place brisket in roasting pan; add garlic, contents of seasoning packet, peppercorns and water. Cover with aluminum foil making sure to fold the edges in tight. Put on upper rack of oven and braise for approximately 2 1/2 hours (50 minutes per pound).

2. Place potatoes in a plastic Ziploc bag. Place butter, green onions, horseradish sauce, pepper, and salt into microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 1-2 minutes or until melted. Pour a 1/4 of the butter mixture into the bag and shake to coat. Put potatoes on aluminum lined baking sheet. Put carrots in the same bag, add another 1/4 of the butter mixture and shake to coat. Put carrots onto the same baking sheet with the potatoes. Place cabbage on the baking sheet and carefully pour the remaining butter mixture over the cabbage making sure to coat all sides with a pastry brush. Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and place on the oven rack in the lower part of the oven. Roast for 55 minutes. After 55 minutes, remove the foil and leave in oven for additional 15-20 minutes.

3. Combine the mustard and the brown sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. When the corned beef is done cooking pull it out of the oven, place the brisket on a baking rack over an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Set the oven to broil (leave the veggies in the oven) Spread the mustard mixture over the brisket and return to the upper rack in the oven. Broil until glaze becomes bubbly and starts to brown.

4. Remove everything from the oven, place on a serving dish and bring to the table!

Beverage Accompaniments
It wouldn't be St. Patty's Day without a bottle of Guinness. This year I had no luck finding any Harp's Lager anywhere so we couldn't make the traditional Black & Tan's, instead we settled for some Irish Car Bombs. If you've never tried them (and even if you don't like Guinness), I would recommend giving them a try. They are delicious! Here's a recipe:

3/4 pint Guinness
1/2 shot Bailey's Irish Cream
1/2 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey

Add the Bailey's and Jameson to a shot glass, layering the Bailey's on the bottom. Pour the Guinness into a pint glass or beer mug 3/4 of the way full and let settle. Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug. This is extremely important! If you don't chug it it will start to curdle - YUCK!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!