March 17, 2010: Mr. Jeff's Corned Beef and Cabbage

St. Patrick's Day started out in no ordinary manner. It was an extraordinarily gorgeous California spring day. Under a sunny, blue sky, the hillsides were all shades of green with patches of yellow mustard, orange poppies and purple lupin. You would think that would be enough magic for one day. But no! I visited the kindergarten room on my way to the school office: tiny leprechaun footprints and gold dust covered the floor! They had played mischievous pranks during the night to surprise the children when they came to school. With a wide grin on my face, I continued on my way. Then, I met my usual early morning visitors, Cheyanne and Sadie, who this morning were more excited than I had ever seen them! They had further reports of green mischief from they encountered at home: Clothes in wrong closets; painted mirrors; cereals in the wrong boxes! Soon, I began to develop an Irish brogue while the Chieftains played Irish airs on the CD player throughout the day. Then! Mr. Jeff, our principal and the best boss in the world, served the homemade corned beef and cabbage he made to the staff for lunch. It was so good, I'm asked him if I could share it here. Mmmm! What a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. It was a day filled with magic and promise, love and laughter, and fun just for the sake of... fun!

MR. JEFF'S CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

6 carrots, cut into chunks
2 onions, chopped
2-3 corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
12 ounces beer
2 T yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
8 wedges cabbage
Potato chunks, optional

In a 4 - 6 quart crock pot, combine the carrots, onions and optional potatoes. Rinse the corned beef under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place into the crock pot and sprinkle with the seasoning mix. Pour beer over the brisket and spread mustard on the brisket. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar with water and pour over the meat. Cover the crock pot and cook on low setting for 10 hours.

Remove the corned beef from the crock pot and keep warm. Add the cabbage wedges to the vegetables and liquid in the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cabbage is crisp tender.

To serve: cut the corned beef across the grain into thin slices. Remove the vegetables from the crock pot with a slotted spoon and serve with the meat. Serve the cooking juices separately. Offer additional mustard on the side. Makes 8 servings.

*Thank you, Mr. Jeff!