2017-03-18 St Patty's Day!

2017-03-18 St Patty's Day!

So I just spent St Patty's day 2018 in NYC and it was glorious!  The city really knows how to hang out at bars.  So since I'm posting last year's St Patty's day photos, I thought I would do something different for this post.  Plus, Adam is gone, Whit is gone, Steven is gone, Caitlin is gone, Mingxi is leaving and I haven't seen Macklin have a beer since this party.  So yeah, things are a wee bit different.  

Instead of talking about the photos, let's talk about one of my favorite holidays, corned beef, cabbage and potatoes.  So since I'm an asian at heart, I had no idea that corned beef was so good until I was out of college.  Since then, I've made this dish almost every St Patty's.  Some has turned out better than others.  I'm going to give you the best one I've found.  Spoiler alert, you need a Sous Vide.  Sorry, its just way better. 

So I've tried to make the "completely from scratch" corned beef from a trusted day walker's grandma's recipe.  It just didn't really impress at all.  So, until someone vouches for their century old recipe, I'm gonna stick with the run of the mill, grocery bought, pre-packaged, pre-marinated, and EASY method!

Okay, lesson one!  Start multiple days in advance!  Take your brisket out of the packaging, seal it in a vacuum bag WITH the juice and seasonings.  Set your sous vide for 135 deg F and toss your brisket in and leave it for 48 hours.  Yes, 2 full days!  When you sous vide this long, be sure to cover your water bath and keep an eye on the water level.  BTW, this is a fantastic way to make a beef brisket also.  You just have to finish it on a smoker for a few hours after.  To make things even easier, you can do this a week ahead of time and just let it hang out in the fridge till you're ready to use it.  

Lesson two! On St Patty's day itself, take the brisket out of the fridge and the bag.  Put the brisket on a chopping board and pour everything that's in the bag into a pot of water.  Those juices are the key to getting that salty, briney, vinegary flavor into the veggies.  Drop in whatever variety of potatoes you like, I like gold potatoes, into the pot and gently boil them.  Right before they are done, put in cabbage wedges right on top of the potatoes.  Don't stir it, just keep it boiling.  Lastly, slice the corned beef neatly and put it on top of the cabbage.  As the veggies finish cooking, you're simultaneously steaming the corned beef.  If you try to slice the corned beef when its hot, it just falls apart.  When it's cold, your slices will come out intact and beautiful.  

Pull everything out and plate the corned beef in the center of a large plate and surround it with cabbage and potatoes.  Pour yourself a Guinness and enjoy?