Oven Roasted Corned Beef With Pan Sauteed Cabbage

Preparing corned beef and cabbage normally involves boiling the brisket and cabbage. I have found that roasting the brisket and sauteing the cabbage, although a bit more work, results in a meal that instead of serving once a year you most likely will serve year round.

Ingredients For The Oven Roasted Corned Beef Brisket:

1 – 3 ½ pound corned beef brisket

15 to 20 Whole Cloves

2 to 3 Tablespoons hot sweet honey mustard ( I prefer Inglehoffer)

2 – Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Oven Roasted Corned Beef Brisket

First, being as most corned beef briskets contain a lot of salt. I like to remove some of the salt before baking it. Put the brisket in a pot, cover with cold water and then place on a stove and bring to a boil. After the pot comes to a full boil, pour off the water and repeat.

Preheat the oven to 350.

After the brisket has been desalted, place on a cutting board fat cap side up. Insert cloves into the fat cap evenly spaced. Make sure to press them into the fat cap firmly so they wont get dislodged during the next step.

After the cloves have been placed into your brisket, spread the mustard liberally over the top of the entire brisket. Once the mustard has been spread, sprinkle the brown sugar over the top.

Your brisket is now ready for baking. Use a wide heavy duty piece of aluminum foil to make a “boat” to place your brisket in. Once the brisket is placed into the “boat”, fashion a piece of foil over the top (see picture) leaving a gap between the foil and top of the brisket. The idea is to seal the steam in but not touch the top of the brisket with the foil.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 2 ½ hours. At the end of the 2 ½ hours, remove the top foil and brush the brisket with a bit more honey mustard. Place beneath the broiler until the top browns and becomes somewhat crusty. Remove from the oven, let set about 10 minutes.

Cut the corned beef about ¼ inch thick cross wise on an angle and serve. Spoon a bit of the juices that were left behind in the foil boat. This juice is also tasty used sparingly over boiled potatoes.

Sauteed Cabbage 

1 Whole Large Cabbage Head

2 – Tablespoons Olive Oil

6 Strips Bacon

1 Sweet Onion

4 Large Cloves Garlic

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 - 1/4 Cup Red Wine

1 - 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the cabbage in 1/4 inch slices and then give it a course chop then place in a bowl.

Chop the onion (I used Vidalia Bulbs because they were available and I would be crazy not to) and set aside. Mince the garlic cloves and set aside.

Slice the bacon strips into ¼ inch pieces width wise. Place a large pot over medium heat and pour the two tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom, add the bacon and begin to brown.

Once the bacon begins to brown add the onion and sprinkle with a bit of Kosher salt. Keep in mind that the bacon has a fair amount of salt content, so we just want to use enough salt to help bring the moisture out of the onion.

After the onion has released its moisture add the minced garlic and saute for about a minute.

Now, take two good handfuls of the cabbage and add it to the pot. Stir well to coat the cabbage with the oil from the pot. Let cook for about five minutes stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You should see a nice brownish color by this time. Add another two handfuls of the chopped cabbage and stir again to coat. You may find that you need to add a bit more oil to keep the cabbage from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Keep repeating this process until all of the cabbage is added to the pot.

Once all the cabbage has been added and it has a nice brownish color, pour the cabbage into a large bowl. Return the pot to the heat and deg-laze the pan with the wine and balsamic vinegar, scraping any browned bits that may have collected at the bottom of the pot. Return the cabbage to the pot, stir well and cook on a low heat until the cabbage is soft. Keep on low heat until the brisket is done. Server with the corned beef and boiled new potatoes.