Corned Beef and Cabbage made easy.

Nothing Like Pressured Corned Beef

    As a young man I was raised in Show Low Arizona. It was a tough place to grow up for me, with many hard memories and hard times. I was kind of different from the other kids in school and as you know children can be pretty tough to deal with. My family was struggling in many ways and I carried that to school, and I have to say my school years in Show Low were nothing short of pure hell.

     At a young age I did find refuge in work. I started working at a local coffee shop as a bus boy. Even though I was only 12 years old, the laws were a little different at the time. I found in work I was accepted and loved.   was a great worker and the waitresses loved me and treated me with kindness and they accepted me as I was. I loved the coffee shop, and I can say it was then my love for food and people truly began.  I worked there until I was 22 years old, leaving only to serve a mission.

The coffee shop was owned by a local family, who also owned a steak house across the street. It was a rebuild of a very old steak house that burned down when I was a little boy.  I always regretted not ever being able to see the inside of the old steak house. I do remember it was a huge event.  My mom was a waitress at the steak house at the time it burned down. It was an old pine building so when it burned it burned fast and hot. I worked at the new steak house for years. I advanced from bus boy to waiter, and everything else you can imagine. I washed dishes, cleaned up after drunks, clean rooms in the hotel, snuck into the pool late at night, and developed a great taste for good food.

      After my grandmother died I found in her cookbooks, an old Tour Guide Book from Ford Motor Company. It was from the 1950's and featured top places to eat around the country and the Old Steak house that had burned down was featured in the cookbook.  Oh by the way the steak house was called the Paint Pony. There were only 2 Arizona places featured in the cookbook. The Paint Pony and the Wig Wam resort in Phoenix.

      To my great pleasure there was a short story about the old Paint Pony telling the history and a short description of owners who were German immigrants. The featured dish at the Paint Pony Steak house was none other then Corned Beef and Cabbage. I always assumed the best corned beef came from Ireland, apparently Germany knows a thing or two as well.  In the 90's I did a short consulting job for the new now closed Paint Pony Steak House and reintroduced that old classic.  It was a great hit. Old favorites never go out of style for long.

                                                                                             Since that time I have dropped the cooking time using the pressure cooker. It still is wonderful and much easier to cook then the original  recipe.


      Classics, liked corned beef are treasures for sure. I think we would all be amazed if we traced all the roots to the favorite foods we eat.   am grateful for those who cooked before and left us with amazing recipes and ideas to continue our journey in discovering just now wonderful foods can be.
Enjoy and have a great day.  Chef Brad~America's Grain Guy

Chef Brad’s Corned Beef

6 Lbs Corned Beef Brisket

        2 cups hot water

½ tsp Oregano

½ tsp Rosemary

1 Whole Bay Leaves

2 Stalks Parsley, or Celery tops

2 Whole Garlic Buds

1 tbsp Dill Seed

1 Medium Onions Quartered

1/2 tsp ea. Nutmeg, Cinnamon, & Ground Cloves

1/2 Lemon Quartered

1 Oranges Quartered

1 Tbs. Liquid Woodsmoke Flavoring (optional)

1 Green Bell Pepper Quartered

Place  Brisket in large  Pressure Cooker and sear until brown.  Cover with hot water, add all other ingredients and pressure for 1½  to 2 hours.  Remove lid and let simmer.   To cook in oven place in large oven casserole or dutch oven pan and bake at 325 degrees for 4 to 5 hours.  Add 2 cups more water to oven cooking.  Use the juice in the pan to create the sauce to serve over the meal. 

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

1 head of red cabbage:  about 2 #

3 T melted butter or 4 slices chopped bacon

3 to 4 T finely chopped onion

2 thinly sliced apples

(1/8t caraway seeds)

1t salt

2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 cup cooked barley and black quinoa

Cut the cabbage into sections.  Remove the hard core, shred the cabbage and soak briefly in cold water.  If you are using bacon, cook over low heat until some fat is rendered out.  Sauté onions in butter or bacon fat and set aside.  Lift cabbage from the water, leaving it moist.  Place it in casserole, cover, and let it simmer 10 minutes.  Then add apples, caraway seeds, and vinegar, cooked barley and black quinoa..

Add sautéed onion and stir.  Cover pan and allow to rest.