White Fusion

Sometimes when I think of what to do for this blog, I have absolutely zero ideas and I have to watch hours of cooking shows to get inspired. Occasionally, however, I have amazing epiphanies that shoot into my brain like a lightning bolt from Zeus. 

Take a Polish Pierog. A dumpling, typically stuffed with potato and/or cheese and/or cabbage. 

Take Irish-American Corned Beef. Served with potato and cabbage, sometimes paired with cheese in a sandwich. 

What if you combine them?! I know, who makes Corned Beef in August? I DO! I buy at least 3 for my freezer when they're on sale in March. TAKE THAT, SEASONAL BS! 

So I did.

I used a basic Pierogi recipe from King Arthur Flour, and I filled it with my Corned Beef, mashed potatoes, swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Almost like a Reuben. 

I learned two things while making this. 1. Pierogi are a lot of work. 2. I'm a genius. 

She put Corned Beef in the oven, you'll never guess what happened next!

It cooked!

I go a bit crazy during March. A madness, perhaps. A madness for corned beef! It's so darn cheap! Alongside turkey, I firmly believe that corned beef should be had outside of its designated holiday. But a brisket is pricier than I'd like for regular consumption. Therefore when it's March and everyone wants to be Irish, I stock up! I have 3 beautiful slabs of corned beef in my freezer, around 3.5 lbs each. They keep very well so I can eat them all year round. Plus they were pretty cheap, about $6 each! 

I used to cook my corned beef in a CrockPot, but I like the texture of braising more, with less water than is used in most slow cooker recipes. I set the temperature  to 250F, liberally apply pickling spice to both sides of the corned beef brisket (that packet they include is much too small) and place it fat side up in my dutch oven. I'll add water to about halfway up the meat, cover it and cook it for around 50 minutes a pound, or until it's hella tender.

Rather than boil vegetables, roasting them in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper makes for a much tastier side. 

For cabbage, I still love steaming quarters and dousing them with malt vinegar, as my Moogie always did, but I like to switch it up sometimes. This year I did a simplified version of Linda Bastianich's Braised Red Cabbage, and I added extra vinegar.

Sláinte!