Corned Beef and Cabbage

I remember St. Patrick's day in NY so well! Lots of drunk and happy people, calling themselves Irish just so they could be walking the city hoping from one bar to the next ... but then there was always Corned Beef and Cabbage to look forward to after a long day drinking. All the Irish pubs would have it on their menus to end the day after a long day drinking. A warm, comforting meal!
Corned Beef is used in many cultures, but when i hear corned beef i think of the Irish!
I use fresh brisket for this recipe but you are welcome to use the unspiced types.

Ingredients:
1 4-6 lb fresh brisket, spiced or unspiced
2 cups onions, coarsely chopped
3 cups carrots, coarsely chopped
1 cup malt vinegar
1 bottle Irish Stout, i use guinness
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1/2 tablespoon dill seed
1/2 tablespoon whole allspice
2 bay leaves
1 head of cabbage
2 1/2 lbs small red potatoes
Coarse grain mustard and thick slices of bread for serving

Use a 20 quart pan. Place 1 cup of onion and 1 cup of carrot on bottom of pan. Place brisket with any liquid, salt, vinegar, stout, and seeds and herbs. Add enough water to barely cover beef. Cover pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer until meat is tender when pierced, about 3 hours.

Taste broth for seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Add leftover onions, carrots , potatoes and cabbage on top. Cover and simmer for 1 more hour, or until all vegetables are tender. Serve hot with or without broth with fresh bread and lots of grainy mustard. And a ice cold guinness of course. Enjoy!

Baked Buttery Thyme Potatoes

I was on pinterest this week and ran across a gorgeous picture and way of cooking your potatoes. So simple and so tasty. Recipe came from Fish Food blog .
This is a perfect side to just about any meat dish. They are crunchy on the outside and gooey in the inside, yummm! The original recipe called for shallots but i didn't have any around and used onions instead and it was perfect!

Ingredients:
6-8 medium new potatoes, i left skin on, very thinly sliced( i used a mandolin)
2 medium onions, quartered
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4-6 sprigs of thyme

Preheat oven to 375F.
Mix olive oil and butter together.
Brush some on the bottom of a baking dish.
Place potatoes in the baking dish. Add onion quarters in between potatoes. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Brush butter/olive oil on top, leaving about 1/4 of the mixture. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add thyme and leftover butter mixture to potatoes and bake for an additional 45 minutes.