Caraway Corned Beef with Red Potatoes, Carrot Chunks & Cabbage Wedges

The Recipe: Perfect for St. Patrick's Day, the entire meal, corned beef slow-cooked on the stovetop, served with red potatoes, carrot chunks, cabbage wedges and at my house, a simple cheese sauce to pull it all together. This is meat 'n' potatoes man-pleasing menu!

Corned beef. You either love it or hate it. Or you like how it tastes but hate how it smells while cooking. This recipe has been tested on all three groups and passes with high marks. And in my book, it’s good enough to eat on any cold night when you crave simple, flavorful fare.

But if your house is home to leprechauns, try this for St. Patrick’s Day next week. It’s heavy on vegetables, which, along with the meat, are delicious topped with a simple cheese sauce.

CHEESE SAUCE Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Add about 1/4 cup finely chopped onion and sauté until soft. Add 2 tablespoons flour and blend well. A bit at a time, add about 2 cups milk (skim is fine but whole milk is less likely to break), blending well after each addition. Add about 8 ounces cheese such as American, cheddar, Velveeta (my guilty favorite) or a mixture of leftover cheeses, then stir until it melts.

ALANNA's TIPS Use Yukon Gold potatoes if they’re available for they remain firm but quite creamy-tasting when cooked. Red potatoes work well too, especially the small "new" red potatoes. Unless you’re watching sodium intake, cook the potatoes and carrots in water salted liberally (my taste says up to 2 tablespoons) to match the saltiness of the brine-cured meat. Be liberal with the water as well to allow for adding the cabbage later.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Do you have a favorite recipe for St. Patrick's Day that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook!

CARAWAY CORNED BEEF

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Stovetop time: 4 hours
8 servings

CORNED BEEF
• 3 pounds corned beef brisket
• Spice packet from corned beef
• 2 teaspoons caraway seed
• 1 orange stuck with 20 whole cloves
• Water to cover halfway

VEGETABLES
• 2 pounds red potatoes, skins on, halved or quartered
• 2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced cross-wise in large chunks
• 2 teaspoons caraway seed
• 8 cabbage wedges

TO SERVE
• Cheese sauce
• Good mustard

CORNED BEEF Cut fat away from the meat and discard. Place meat and contents of spice packet in a large Dutch oven. Add 2 teaspoons caraway seed and the orange, then add water reaching halfway up the side of the meat. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer and cook for 4 hours. (Can be cooked ahead and reheated.)

VEGETABLES When meat has cooked for 3 hours, place potatoes, carrots and another 2 teaspoons caraway seed in a second large Dutch oven or kettle with water to cover. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer. Cook for about 40 minutes.

Add cabbage and cook another 6 – 8 minutes or until cabbage is fully cooked. Drain.

TO SERVE Drain meat (discarding the orange) and slice crosswise, removing any additional obvious fat. Serve with potatoes, carrots and cabbage topped with cheese sauce along with mustard on the side.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 317 Calories; 13g Tot Fat; 4g Sat Fat; 11g Carb; 5g Fiber; 161mg Sodium; 105mg Cholesterol; 38g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points 6.5 & WW PointsPlus 8

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LATER NOTES

(2007) Kobe corned beef (in St. Louis, available from from Straub's) is worth the investment. It's the best corned beef, bar none, I've ever tasted. And it's pure meat, virtually no fat, so little waste and fork tender.
(2007) A butcher-cook recommended cooking the vegetables right in the meat rather than separately as here. In 2007, I tried both and much preferred the pure vegetable flavor when the cabbage, especially, is cooked separately.
(2007) This is an easy-easy meal, especially good for a 'meat and potatoes' crowd.

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