Oven Baked Corned Beef with Guinness Beer, Braised Cabbage & Carrots and Crispy Smashed Red Potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day

1. CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE
2. Heat the oven to 300F.
3. Place the rinsed and dry corned beef brisket, onion half and whole garlic head in a large dutch oven pot.
4. Mix the beer and the brown sugar in a glass bowl.
5. Mix the peppercorns, coriander and mustard seeds, cloves, and bay leaf to make the pickling spice.
6. Add the pickling spice to the beer mix, and pour it all over the beef. The brisket should be almost covered by the liquid. Add more water if needed. Bring to a simmer on the stove. Watch it closely so the beer does not bubble over.
7. Once it begins simmering, cover the pot and place in oven to roast for 4-6 hours, flipping meat once during halfway point. Remove from oven. Spoon out 2 cups of the corned beef braising liquid to cook the cabbage. Place the brisket on a plate, cover with foil, and let rest while the vegetables cook.
8. Turn your oven up to 450 degrees to get ready for the potatoes.
9. While the oven is heating, start the vegetables, cut the cabbage into 8 wedges. In a separate large, wide pot, heat up butter on medium-high heat. When hot, add the cabbage wedges and cook until browned, about a 3-4 minutes. Turn to brown the other side. Add in the carrots. Pour in 1/2 cup of reserved corned beef cooking liquid, bring to a simmer and cover the pot. Uncover, and turn the heat to low and let cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is gone and the vegetables are caramelized and cooked through. Pierce with fork to check doneness. Sprinkle with parsley.

SMASHED POTATOES

1. Bring a pot of salted (1 TB) water to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil until they are just tender.
2. On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place the hot potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving enough room between each potato.
3. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
4. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped thyme.
5. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until crispy and toasty brown.
6. Slice the corned beef across the grain and serve with the cabbage, carrots
7. and smashed potatoes. Garnish with parsley.
8. Serve with Horseradish sauce or stone-ground mustard on the side, and a plate of Irish Soda Bread and Irish butter. Of course wash it down with a Guinness.
9. Happy St Pat’s!