This is my favorite way to cook corned beef because it’s foolproof, fast, and takes no effort. All you need is:
Corned Beef, about 3 pounds
2 cups water
1 bottle dark beer, like Guinness
4 cloves garlic
1/2 c brown sugar
Rinse the brisket well. If it has been marinated in the spices, scrape them off. Cut off the fat cap and rub the brisket with the brown sugar.
Put the remaining ingredients in the Instant pot or pressure cooker. If the corned beef came with a packet of spices, add them to the pot. You can just dump them in and scrape them off the brisket later, or you can make a little sachet to hold them, or put them in a tea infuser. If your corned beef didn’t come with spices, you can add your own: 1/2 T mustard seeds, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 8 allspice berries, 1/2 tsp anise seeds, 8 cloves, 2 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 T coriander seeds, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp ground ginger.
Place a trivet on the bottom of the pot. Put the brisket on the trivet. Cook for 90 minutes on high, then allow 15 minutes after cooking for the pressure to release naturally. Allow 15 minutes on the front end for the pot to heat up and begin cooking, so your total cooking time will be two hours.
While the brisket is cooking, you can be baking your beer braised cabbage in the oven, which will also take two hours. You can also be baking carrots and cooking mashed potatoes, both of which will take one hour. So everything is cooking at once, with not much for you to do, which makes this the easiest St. Patrick’s Day ever.