Saint Patrick's Day is coming, Saint Patrick's day is coming!
For as long as I can remember, our family always celebrated Saint Patrick's day with Corned Beef & Cabbage, Irish soda bread, & the best pistachio cake in the world...my mom's!
How will you be celebrating this year?
Green Beer? Irish Soda Bread? Hanging out at the local pub? Or will you be making corned beef and cabbage for family & friends?
Why not try something new this year...Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls!
These little babies are so easy, can be made several days in advance and really throw a twist on the more traditional plate of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, & carrots.
For many years, I made corned beef and cabbage the way my mom always made it. Throw the corned beef and seasoning packet in boiling water and boil away, adding the cabbage, carrots, & potatoes in the last hour or so of boiling. It was good, even delicious, some of the time...but, other times I ended up with stringy, tough corned beef. NO ONE wants to spend 4 or more hours making dinner, just to have the corned beef tough and stringy!
Turns out, making corned beef and cabbage isn't as simple as throwing the ingredients into a pot of boiling water and waiting 4 hours until it's done. You HAVE to babysit it and keep the water simmering, not a rapid boil & who has time for that? Here is a handy article on 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Corned Beef by The Kitchn.
Corned beef is brisket that is submerged in a brine consisting of large kernels "corn" of rock salt and spices. The brisket soaks in this brine for many days before it's considered "corned". 
The brisket is a heavily worked muscle and therefore the trick to flavorful brisket or corned beef is cooking it low and slow. The connective tissue on this very tough cut of meat has to have time to break down, so you can see how a rapid boil isn't the best idea. Sure, your corned beef can be cooked in ½ the time, but the end result will be tough and not that appetizing.
Slow cooking in a crock pot is another way to prepare corned beef and although I've tried this method several times, I have yet to get the timing down to have the corned beef & veggies perfectly cooked! I usually end up with a pile of mushy potatoes and carrots or they are so hard I have to boil them on the stove and in the process overcook the corned beef. Whew...who knew cooking corned beef & cabbage could be so darn challenging!
My favorite way of preparing corned beef is low and slow in the oven, just like I cook brisket (if I'm not using the smoker). Even though I have more control over how the meat turns out and I can add the veggies at the right time to get the perfect cook on them, it's still a hands-on process. This year, I wanted to try something new: a simple recipe that keeps all the great flavors of traditional corned beef and cabbage, that I could make ahead of time and finish up on Saint Patrick's Day.
So, I started thinking about a new recipe yesterday...yep, only 3 days BEFORE St. Paddy's day, I'm always a last minute girl. Don't rush me, I'm waiting for the last minute! 
I really should have this plaque hanging on my wall...it's true for almost all aspects of my life. My alarm goes off at 6am and I have plenty of time to get ready for work, BUT I hit snooze so many times that I have to rush to get out the door. I don't know why I do this to myself...but I do.
I should have started creating this recipe on Valentine's Day, but who wants to eat corned beef and cabbage on Valentine's Day??? Not me! And since my husband and I eat the food I cook for the blog, starting recipe development early was not an option...in fact, corned beef and cabbage never crossed my mind until yesterday. So, here I am rushing to create, cook, write the recipe & post in less than 24 hours! Oh my!
My idea for Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls came to me while driving to work (yes, I was late) yesterday morning. At first my plan was to slice raw corned beef, wrap it in cabbage leaves and bake it low and slow in the oven (I'm still going to try this, just not THIS close to St. Patrick's Day). I did a little research and I couldn't find any article or recipe that calls for slicing the corned beef raw and THEN cooking. After pondering this for a while and decided to call 1-800-MOM. I ran my idea past her and while she liked the concept of Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls, she unequivocally said I should cook the corned beef at least ¾ of the way through first AND refrigerate the meat before slicing. Interesting...this lends itself to my make ahead plan. Thanks, mom!
The rest of the recipe just sort of developed itself, so without further ado, I present you with my THE BEST version of Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls.
What you'll need:
- one large head of cabbage
- 4 carrots
- 4 red and white new potatoes
- 2 ½-3 lb corned beef with seasoning packet
- Course Ground Dijon mustard
- good quality balsamic vinegar
- honey ( I added this after the pic was taken)
- salt, pepper & olive oil
Step One:
Remove the corned beef from its package along with the seasoning packet and rinse the corned beef under cold water. Place corned beef, fat side up, in the Deep Covered Baker or a large casserole dish (you will want to cover the dish with aluminum foil if it doesn't have an oven-safe lid). Using a mortar and pestle crush the seasonings into a coarse powder. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, use a plastic bag and either a heavy meat tenderizer or a crab mallet to crush the whole spices. Sprinkle the ground spices over the fat cap on the meat. Cover and bake in a 275°F for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until you can insert a fork without meeting resistance. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Do not throw away the juices in the bottom of the pan, we will use the liquid to make a sauce.
Step Two:
Fill a large pot (I used an 8 quart pot) with water and bring to a boil. Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water. Poke a fork or a fondue stick through the core of the cabbage. Remove the outer two leaves and discard. Plunge the whole head of cabbage into the boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove and plunge into cold water. Gently peel the individual leaves off the cabbage head. I made a cut at the root end to make this easier. Only the outer leaves will come off easily, so you repeat this process until you have 8 large leaves. Make a cut along each side of the thick stem and remove from cabbage leaf.
Step Three:
Cut the remaining cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Thinly slice into strips. In a small mixing bowl combine 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Coarse Ground mustard, & 1 Tbsp of honey. Mix until well-combined. Heat about a Tbsp of olive oil in a stainless steel pan until very hot, add ⅓ to ½ of the sliced cabbage. You only want a single layer of cabbage in the pan. Allow to cook without stirring for a few minutes to allow the cabbage to brown. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add ½ Tbsp of balsamic vinegar sauce and stir (reserve the remaining sauce). Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Repeat until all sliced cabbage is cooked.
Step Four:
Cut potatoes in half, then in quarters, then in eighths. Peel and cut carrots on a bias. Slice corned beef against the grain into 8 equal slices. Mine were about a ½ inch thick.
Step Five:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Assemble and roll corned beef cabbage rolls. Lay one large cabbage leaf on a cutting board or flat surface. Place ⅛th of cooked cabbage on the leaf, followed by 4 slices of potato and 4 slices of carrots. Top with one slice of corned beef. I don't remove the fat cap because as it cooks in the cabbage leaf, the fat will help keep everything moist and flavorful, but you can remove it if you prefer. Fold in sides of cabbage leaf and roll. Place the cabbage roll seam side down in the Deep Covered Baker with the juice from cooking the corned beef. Do this with all eight cabbage leaves. Depending on the size of the casserole dish you are using, you may have two layers like I did.
Step Six:
Pour remaining balsamic/mustard/honey sauce over cabbage rolls and bake in a 350° F oven for one hour. Remove corned beef cabbage rolls and place on a sheet pan. Return to oven at 200° F to keep warm until ready to serve. Strain juices from Deep Covered Baker into a small heavy sauce pan. Place on stove on medium high and bring to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Coarse Ground Dijon mustard, & 1 Tbsp honey. Allow to gently boil until liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat and keep room temperature until ready to use.
Step Seven:
Place corned beef cabbage rolls on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut each one in half on the diagonal. Place two halves on plate and drizzle with reduced sauce. Serve & Enjoy!
Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
Instructions
- Remove the corned beef from it's package along with the seasoning packet and rinse the corned beef under cold water.
- Place corned beef, fat side up, in Deep Covered Baker or a large casserole dish
- Using a mortar and pestle crush the seasonings into a coarse powder. Sprinkle the ground spices over the fat cap on the meat.
- Cover and bake in a 275°F for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until you can insert a fork without meeting resistance.
- Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Reserve juices
- Fill a large (I used an 8 quart pot) with water and bring to a boil.
- Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water.
- Poke a fork or a fondue stick through the core of the cabbage.
- Remove the outer two leaves and discard.
- Plunge the whole head of cabbage into the boiling water for about 10 seconds.
- Remove and plunge into cold water.
- Gently peel the individual leaves off the cabbage head. Repeat this process until you have 8 large leaves.
- Make a cut along each side of the thick stem and remove from cabbage leaf.
- Cut the remaining cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Thinly slice into strips.
- In a small mixing bowl combine 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Coarse Ground mustard, & 1 Tbsp of honey. Mix until well combined.
- Heat about a Tbsp of olive oil in a stainless steel pan until very hot, add ⅓ to ½ of the sliced cabbage. You only want a single layer of cabbage in the pan. Allow to cook without stirring for a few minutes to allow the cabbage to brown.
- Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add ½ Tbsp of balsamic vinegar sauce and stir (reserve the remaining sauce).
- Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Repeat until all sliced cabbage is cooked.
- Cut potatoes in half, then in quarters, then in eighths.
- Peel and cut carrots on a bias.
- Slice corned beef against the grain into 8 equal slices.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Lay one large cabbage leaf on a cutting board or flat surface.
- Place ⅛th of cooked cabbage on the leaf, followed by 4 slices of potato and 4 slices of carrots. Top with one slice of corned beef.
- Fold in sides of cabbage leave and roll.
- Place the cabbage roll seam side down in Deep Dish Baker with the juice from cooking the corned beef. Do this with all eight cabbage leaves.
- Pour remaining balsamic/mustard/honey sauce over cabbage rolls and bake in a 350° F oven for one hour.
- Remove corned beef cabbage rolls and place on a sheet pan.
- Return to oven on 200° F to keep warm until ready to serve.
- Strain juices from Deep Dish Baker into a small heavy sauce pan. Place on stove on medium high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Coarse Ground Dijon mustard, & 1 Tbsp honey.
- Allow to gently boil until liquid is reduced by half.
- Remove from heat and keep room temperature until ready to use.
- Cut each cabbage roll in half on the diagonal.
- Drizzle with balsamic vinegar reduction and serve warm.
Notes
Real Life~Real Food~Real Simple
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