Slow Cooker Corned Beef

  

Beef. It's what's for supper. Actually, it's corned beef and it's what's for St. Patrick's Day supper. This is my very favorite corned beef recipe. While it calls for a 10-hour cook, it will only take up 6 minutes of your time. 

The first 5 minutes of the time commitment requires you to simply dump all of the ingredients in your slow cooker and walk away. The last 1 minute is reserved for simply slicing and serving the corned beef. I guarantee you it will be one of the best St. Patrick's Day corned beef briskets you have ever tasted.

INGREDIENTS
1 corned beef brisket, 3-4 pounds
2 medium onions, cut into quarters (no peeling required)
5 ribs celery, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon prepared stone ground mustard 
2 cups chicken stock
12-ounces of beer (lager or pilsner)



DIRECTIONS

1. Place onions and celery on the bottom of your slow cooker. Add stock, beer and mustard.
2. Set brisket on top of onions and celery, fat-side up. Sprinkle meat with seasoning packet (which comes packed in your brisket). Put lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.
3. Remove brisket. Slice and serve.

Pairing: You knew this

Arugula Salad with Fennel, Radish and Mustard

 

Bold and audacious are two perfect words to describe this salad. You've got peppery arugula..licorice undertones thanks to the fennel...the snap of radish...and the sharp, pungent joy of mustard. Then you top it all of with some fresh grated horseradish. 

This salad is a masterpiece all on its own. If you want to serve it as an entree, grill up a ribeye with a well-seared crust and add the slices to the salad. Steak is really the only choice, because any other protein will fail miserably when it comes to complementing bold and audacious.

INGREDIENTS

For the Dressing

1 shallot, finely diced

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

3-1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the Salad

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced very thin

5 ounces of arugula

8 small red radishes, trimmed and sliced very thin

1-inch chunk of peeled horseradish

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the dressing: Put the shallot in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add lemon juice, zest and vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add mustards and stir to dissolve. Add olive oil and whisk to blend.
2. Prepare the salad: Put sliced fennel in a salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then dress lightly with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the dressing. Add arugula and toss well, keeping some of the slices on top. Add more dressing to taste, but don’t overdress. Add a pinch of salt and toss again. Garnish with red radishes and grate the horseradish over the salad. Serve.

Wine pairing: Zinfandel