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Isn’t it funny how some foods are elevated to tradition for holidays, and others are just there, when often enough we like the ones best that are more common. Take corned beef – there is corned beef and cabbage and corned beef hash. I would always pick corned beef hash over corned beef and cabbage, yet the former is the one most associated with a holiday (St. Patrick’ Day, of course).
Being that I am part Irish (well, as much as I am anything – true mutt status) and the fact that my mom loved decorating for and celebrating just about anything, we sometimes had corned beef and cabbage on March 17, but it wasn’t necessarily a tried and true. But who can blame her – boiled beef and cabbage don’t exactly make my heart skip a beat. And so up until now I had never made it myself.
That is until yesterday.
Last Sunday was spent with family, and when they got to our apartment, they came with gifts – corned beef, a head of cabbage, a few carrots and potatoes to be exact. So here was my chance to try my own hand at tradition.
Thankfully when looking for a recipe, I found a baked version on Simply Recipes that seemed a bit more inviting than boiling then 4 pounds of meat in a vat of water and spices.
As for the cabbage, I took also took her lead and sauteed it, although I added a few grated carrots, and held back some of the diced cabbage and carrots and tossed it in at the end, to keep it a bit more fresh. With a bit of vinegar, some parsley and a touch of mustard and brown sugar, it was a cross between sauteed cabbage and coleslaw. And just about right.
If you are planning on making corned beef tonight, I would definitely recommend following Elise’s recipe, and in particular, the VERY IMPORTANT step about boiling it first to remove a bit of the salt. This coming from a gal who likes things “well seasoned.” I skipped that step because I was in a hurry and maybe didn’t realize how salty the corned beef would be, and I am still paying the price. Let’s put it this way – I was so dehydrated this morning that I felt like I woke up from a 3 day bender.
But those often are pretty fun, so it’s not all bad. 
Do you have any ways you have updated holiday meals? Or do you like them just for tradition’s sake?
Note on the corned beef:
