Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage

It is March, which means it is the time of year that corned beef goes on sale. Just about every store carries and marks down corn beef around St. Patrick’s Day. In my area it is really the only time of year you find corned beef for a good price.

Corned beef is one of those things that I learned to like after I got married. It was not that I did not like it, I had never had it, until my mother inlaw served it for dinner when my husband and I were dating. The first few times I had corned beef it was not my favorite, however my husband loves it, so I was determined to find a way to cook it that we both liked.

I kept looking at recipes for corned beef trying to figure out what it was that I did not like. If you have ever cooked corned beef purchased from the store, you know that it comes with a seasoning pack that you are supposed to use. My mother inlaw always used it, so I did too. When I was looking at different recipes, I came across one that said to throw the seasoning pack out and not use it.

Well, I decided this was worth a try. I cooked it without the seasonings from the package and it was the best corned beef I had ever had. I actually liked it this way. What I discovered was that it was not the corned beef I did not like, it was the seasoning that came with the corned beef. I had found a way to cook corned beef that both my husband and I enjoyed.

I now try to cook corned beef at least once a year and it is usually in March when it goes on sale. This slow cooked corned beef has become my favorite way to cook it. It is so easy and so good.

This is one of the few recipes that I use beer in. I hate beer. I can’t stand even the smell of it. However, it makes meat tender and works especially well in this recipe. Because this cooks all day in the crockpot, you really can’t even taste the beer in it. It just gives it a really good flavor and texture.

Now I am curious, how many of you eat corned beef? How many of you have never eaten corned beef?