Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

It seems like corned beef and cabbage is the St. Patrick's Day equivalent to margaritas and burritos on Cinco de Mayo. So, Irish-American (or Mexican-American) food. I get, though...and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Growing up in a melting pot, we often grab on to symbolism and culture in only flashy, consumeristic way we know how.

I grew up in a country that uses Lucky Charms, four leaf clovers, Irish cream, green beer and spry little leprechauns to represent something that has nothing to do with any of those things. And while I've been told that I have a sliver of Irish in me, that was the extent of it. I knew nothing about my Irish roots (or my German, Bohemian - as in Czech, or Cherokee ones, either).

It was always this time of year that corned beef starting hitting the meat coolers and reuben sandwiches were heavily advertised. I really don't remember corned beef and cabbage ever being made in our kitchen, but I was always intrigued by the smell coming from the kitchen of a few of my friends...most of whom were Irish and Catholic. So while most (all?) Irish-Irish folks will tell you that corned beef and cabbage isn't "a thing" on St. Paddy's Day in Ireland, most (all?) Irish-Americans will acknowledge it as part here in the States.

This probably has to do with Irish immigrants and Jewish immigrants living in close proximity when they moved to American, starting in the mid-1800's. Back home, most of the Irish people would have eaten bacon (smoked pork, not necessarily our streaky bacon) and cabbage, but living in close proximity to Jewish butchers, pork wasn't as easy to come by. Instead they found corned beef brisket, which was salted and cured in a similar manner, so they purchased that and brought it home and prepared it in the same manner. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, while corned beef and cabbage may not be an authentic Irish celebration meal, I think it's safe to say that it is an authentic Irish-American meal...and definitely a part of wonderful, oftentimes-gaudy-and-commercial-but-usually-well-meaning-and-inspired festivities that honor St. Patrick in the US. Plus, it's super delicious.

This version is made in the slow cooker, which means minimal work and maximum juicy meat.

FUN FACT:

The "corn" in corned beef comes from the age-old art of meat preservation where meat was (is) packed into a crock and covered in salt. A kernel of rock salt was about the size of a wheat or oat kernel/seed, and thus became known as a "corn of salt". The word kernel comes from the word kernam or kurnilo, meaning the root of the seed.

If you don't have a slow cooker, you might want to try this Baked Honey Mustard Corned Beef instead. If you are looking for a couple of side dishes to go along with your corned beef, potatoes are king in Bubble and Squeak, Irish Champ, and Irish Colcannon. And, if you're looking for a main dish other than corned beef, why not check out this Dublin Coddle or these Irish Fish Cakes?

yield: serves 6-8Author: Heather Schmitt-Gonzalezprint recipe