Irish Channel Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  One of the surprises in moving down here and learning about the history of New Orleans is the large number of ethnicities that played significant roles in making this city what it is today.  Since New Orleans was such a huge port town, it saw a lot of similar immigration patterns as New York City did, but at a smaller scale.  Everyone knows about the French Quarter and the LA Purchase from the French.  But   don't forget about the Spanish who owned New Orleans from 1763 - 1801.  Italians were another large group that lived in the French Quarter.  And there was also the Irish immigrant community, who took on blue collar jobs of digging canals in New Orleans.  And over time, the section of the city just below the Garden District and along the Mississippi River was known as "The Irish Channel" because of the number of Irish who lived there.  Every year you can find large St. Patrick's day parties and parades in this part of New Orleans.

This traditional Irish dish has a New Orleans twist on it with the crab boil.  My mom used this technique correctly; however, I mistakenly bought the powder mix of boil, which when mixed in water in a concentrated fashion, simply tastes like hot sauce.  Oops!  So we ended up with quite the spicy corned beef and vegetables.

Overall we both liked this recipe, and even if you don't have crab boil I think it is a good method to create this dish.

3 – 3 ½ # corned beef brisket                           3 lg russet potatoes, peeled/halved

3 qts cold water                                                1# lg carrots, peeled, trimmed, halved

1 bag crab boil                                                             crosswise

¼ c white vinegar                                              3 sm onions, halved bottom to top

1 lg to med cabbage, 3 ½ - 4 #             1 med head garlic, cloves peeled

            Cut into 6 equal wedges                        salt/pepper for seasoning

2 ½ T salt

Remove corned beef from package, discard liquid, place meat in a bowl in the sink and rinse thoroughly under cold water.

Combine cold water, salt, crab boil and vinegar in a large pot over high heat.  Add the beef and bring to a boil.  Boil about 15 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 – 3 ½ hours or until meat is fork-tender.  Remove the meat from the cooking liquid and set aside.  (Meat should be very tender.)

Place a large roasting pan with a lid and a rack over 2 burners of the stove.  Put the cabbage wedges on the rack in the center of the pan, place the potatoes around the cabbage, and rest the carrots between the potatoes and the cabbage.  Place the onions on top of the cabbage wedges, and sprinkle the garlic over everything.

Remove the bag of crab boil from the cooking liquid and discard.  Pour the liquid over the vegetables, place the meat on top, and turn both burners to high.  Bring to a boil.  Boil about 8 minutes, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until all the vegetables are tender—about 45 minutes.

Remove the meat and trim away all excess fat.  With sharp carving knife, thinly slice the meat against the grain on the bias.  Place the cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion and a few cloves of garlic on a serving platter.  Place the sliced corned beef on top, and pour a little liquid over everything.  Adjust seasonings.

Serve with prepared horseradish and/or Creole mustard.     

Grillades and Grits

This was probably one of the easier recipes to do and very tasty.  The meat rub is very peppery but not necessarily spicy.  It is a dish that you see often on menus down here but come to think of it I have never ordered it to see how authentic this recipe was.  Anyway, mom and I agreed this was a repeater.

Serves 4.

The old time New Orleans version of smothered steak - veal or beef round pounded out thin, browned in hot fat, then slowly cooked with onions and fresh tomatoes.  Grillades are always served with grits to soak up the rich natural gravy.  They make a hearty inexpensive supper or a grand old fashioned Sunday breakfast.

1 1/4 to 1 3/4 lb. round of veal or beef

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1 Tbs. minced garlic

2 Tbs. flour

1 1/2 Tbs. lard

1 cup onion, chopped

1 large tomato, coarsely chopped

1 cup water

2 1/2 to 3 cups grits

Trim fat from meat.  Cut into pieces about 2 inches square and pound out with a mallet to about 4 inches square.  Rub the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic into the pieces of meat on both sides.  Then rub in the flour.

In a large heavy skillet or saute pan, melt the lard over medium heat and brown the grillades well on both sides.  Lower the heat and add the onion, tomato and water.  Bring to a simmer, cover loosely, and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, uncovering to turn the meat over every 10 minutes.  A rich brown gravy will form during cooking; if it appears too thick, add water a little bit at a time.

When the meat is cooked remove it to a heated platter and place in a preheated oven at 200 degrees to keep warm.  Prepare the grits.  Just before serving reheat the gravy in the skillet and pour it over both the meat and the grits.