The family loves the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, so it’s mandatory on St. Patrick’s Day. Only problem is, I’m less of a fan of the traditional boiled dinner approach. Frankly, the potatoes, carrots and cabbage boiled in the cooking water are just OK, not really especially tasty. The corned beef takes a long time to boil. Then you have the hassle of taking it out of the pot, keeping it warm, cooking the potatoes and carrots, taking them out, cooking the cabbage…. It just doesn’t work for me. I’ve tried cooking the corned beef in a crock pot, but then you still have different cooking times on the veggies. So this year I tried something different and it worked so well, I’m sticking with it. Dinner cooks in two hours, with not much prep or fussing, so I got to enjoy the day too.
The corned beef cooks in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker in two hours. Meanwhile the beer braised cabbage bakes in the oven, also for two hours. An hour in, you can start cooking the mashed potatoes on your cooktop. I boil some Yukon gold potatoes, peels on, cut in large chunks, until tender. Drain, add a cube of softened butter, a little garlic power, salt to taste, and enough milk to get them to the consistency you want. Mash with a potato masher, don’t whip them with an electric mixer.
Carrots also cook in one hour, so you can start them with the potatoes. I cut them in thick matchsticks, coat with a little avocado oil, and sprinkle with a little seasoned salt. If you have a second oven, bake them at 450 degrees, stirring after 30 minutes. When they start to char, I add a couple tablespoons of butter and a light sprinkle of brown sugar, then back in the oven to caramelize. If you don’t have a second oven, you can cook them with the cabbage, but add about 15 minutes to the cooking time.
