St. Patrick's Day, BBQ Baked Corned Beef and Baked Colcannon

Me, Irish? No, not one little bit. Do I like traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage, Not in the least. Boiled meat, unless it is chicken for soup is not for me. Years, ago some friends of mine introduced me to BBQ Corned Beef. Now there was something different, Imagine a cross between Southern BBQ Brisket and and picked taste of Corned Beef, sounds like a marriage of flavors. My friends would boil the corned beef brisket, according to package directions, when it was almost done, they would remove it from the pan, rinse it to get all the spices off, trim the fat and coat the brisket with BBQ sauce. At this stage they would let it rest for about 30 minutes, covered in foil. The next step was the BBQ,, now the brisket is cooked, so the idea here, is creating the crisp, BBQ blast. You only need about 20 to 30 minutes on the grill, 10 minutes to rest and there you go, BBQ Corned Beef Brisket. Slice against the grain and serve with your favorite Irish Sides. I like to serve this with Irish Baked Colcannon, which is a blend of potatoes, cheese, cabbage, onion and leeks, baked casserole style. Yummy. OK, so this year, due to the heavy rains, I have opted to change my menu a bit. I am not going to BBQ my brisket, but rather bake it with BBQ sauce, and finished under the broiler for added crispness, served with the baked Colcannon and steamed carrots.

Baked Barbecue Corned Beef Brisket

Corned beef is cured in a salt mixture, so it can be very salty, depending on the source. If the salt in your corned beef is an issue for you (some people like foods less salty than others) you might try bringing the corned beef to a boil in plain water first, discarding the water, and bringing it to a boil in plain water again, and again discarding the water, before proceeding.

Ingredients

Corned Beef (baked)

• 3 lbs corned beef (in package)
• cheese cloth
• spice packet
• 1/2 cup GF Barbecue Sauce, I like Sweet Baby Rays
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Drain the corned beef from the package. Make a small package with the cheese cloth and spice packet, removed from plastic. Place spices  in cloth on  a large piece of heavy duty, wide, aluminum foil (you may have to get creative with the way you wrap the beef if your foil isn't wide enough), Lay corned beef, fat side up, on top of spice sachet in foil. Spread barbecue sauce all over the brisket, top, bottom and sides. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top.

2 Wrap the corned beef with foil in a way that allows for a little space on top between the corned beef and the foil, and creates a container to catch the juices. Place foil-wrapped corned beef in a shallow roasting pan and bake for 3 hours.

3 Open the foil wrapping, spread a little more barbecue sauce over the top of the corned beef, and broil it for 2-3 minutes, until the top is bubbly and lightly browned. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then place on cutting board and cut at a diagonal, across the grain of the meat, into 1/2-inch thick slices.

Serve immediately.

Serves 5.

Baked Colcannon Recipe

6 large red potatoes, washed and quartered

1 pinch salt

4 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup light sour cream

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk, or as needed

1 teaspoon butter, or as needed

3 cups shredded cabbage

2 leeks, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Season the potatoes with salt, and mash with 4 tablespoons of butter, sour cream, egg, and milk.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Grease a 2-quart casserole.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the cabbage, leeks, and onion until the cabbage is tender and the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Season the cabbage mixture with salt and pepper, and stir to blend. Fold the cabbage mixture into the potato mixture until thoroughly mixed, and spoon into the prepared casserole.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes; top with Cheddar cheese, and return to oven until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.