Okay I couldn’t resist one more Irish dish. This is a classic taste with the combination of sweet cabbage and salty corned beef. Layer them like you would a Napoleon pastry and voila, you’ve just brought country food to the city! The addition of some heat takes it up a few levels but layering like a Napoleon pastry, well, let’s just say the folks at Michelin (no not the tire guys) want the your address of your restaurant. Yes, it takes a bit of work to layer it, but the wow effect when you serve it is well worth it. Still it boils (no pun intended) down to the taste. It couldn’t be any simpler or tastier.
1 package corned beef, uncooked (see if you can get a piece that is about 2″ thick and about 8″ long – it will shrink and tighten up as it cooks leaving you a nice block of corned beef)
1/2 head of cabbage
3 fresh hot red chilies, roughly chopped
12 dried chilies
12 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (divided in half)
12 – 14 baby red onions or cipollini
Cook the corned beef according to the package directions (usually cover with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours or until an internal temperature of 160F (71C) – (that was the instructions on the package).
To the water, add the dried chilies and 6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped.
Remove the corned beef and the cooking liquid (it should be very salty but save some of it for the cabbage) from the pot when done – tent with foil or a plate
Cut the 1/2 cabbage into 3 pieces (you want to end up with some rectangular pieces of cabbage that roughly match the width of the corned beef)
Put the cabbage into a large pot with about 1/2″ of water, add some of the salty cooking liquid remaining from the corned beef to end up with about 1″ of water in the pot
Add the three fresh chilies and the other 6 cloves of garlic to the pot
Bring up to a boil, then reduce the to a simmer, cover and cook for about 2o minutes until tender – turn the cabbage over in the liquid during the 20 minute period
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly
Slice the corned beef into 1/8″ thick slices
Slice the cabbage into matching pieces
Place the sliced cabbage on the bottom, place a piece of corned beef on top, continue layering ending with the cabbage
Serve with a bit of the cooking liquid, some onions, chilies and garlic from the pot
Just some Irish potato bread or a French baguette will work as an accompaniment
As always – enjoy!
