St. Patrick's day special recipe

Since it seems like everyone else is on the St. Patrick's day bandwagon, I figured I would make a little corned beef the beer way.

Don't worry, no beer was harmed in this recipe. No green dye added, and no crap beer used!

I was going to boycott St. Patrick's day just because. I typically don't like marketing holidays, but I am making an exception in this case. I am sacrificing for you, my readers. Well, really, my father bought some corned beef and since he was working.

I decided to make this into an outdoor event - complete with beer for the evening. You see it is the time of year in Las Vegas when the weather is perfect, although a little windy at times. With the 80's upon us for a few more days it is perfect to get out of the kitchen and celebrate outside. That, in my house anyway, means food and beer (the pool is still too cold).

Cooking with beer trick number one

One of the tricks I often use is to replace anything that says water in a recipe with beer. Note, this works almost all the time, but use your head, sometimes you need to use water!  The corned beef package said to cook in a crock pot and cover the meat with water. This was a no-brainer, just use beer.

What kind of beer you ask? Well, I could have been obvious and used a dry stout, but I decided to use an American pale ale. In this case a Deschutes Brewery Red Chair NWPA. You could use any American pale ale, but this is the seasonal that is in town now, and since I had a few last night (testing of course), I decided the hoppiness would blend well with the spices in the corned beef. There is also a nice malt backbone with a hint of toasted bread (melanoidins) from the caramel malt.

Cooking with beer trick number two

Another thing I love to do is braise the meat in a slow-cooker. Cooking with beer, besides adding flavor and goodness, also does a great job of tenderizing the meat. So if you have a slow-cooker, use it. If you don't, go buy one. Slow cookers are very cheap now, and you will thank me later.

Corned beef cooked with beer

Serves 8

• 2 - 2.5 pounds of corned beef (don't throw away the spice and brine in the package)
• 12 oz beer (see article)
• 8 oz chopped onion
• 4-5 whole garlic cloves
• carrots and potatoes (I used red) as you wish
• 1 small head of cabbage (or more if you like)

1. Place corned beef in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Add the beer. You should come close to covering the meat, but remember you will get additional liquid from the onions and carrots. Add some water if needed, or better yet a little beer. It depends on the shape of the corned beef.
3. Scatter the onions and garlic on top.
4. Add the potatoes (you can quarter them if they are big) and carrots to the sides of the meat.
5. You can add the cabbage in the beginning but it will get very well cooked. I just added it about halfway through.

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories:	431.4 kcal
Water	335.78 g
Carbohydrate* (29%)	31.41 g
Protein (23%)	24.93 g
Total Fat (46%)	21.87 g
Monounsaturated	10.46 g
Polyunsaturated	0.88 g
Saturated	7.26 g
Cholesterol	111.07 mg
Dietary Fibre	5.03 g
Alcohol (3%)	1.6 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A	1894.62 IU
Thiamin	0.19 mg
Riboflavin	0.3 mg
Niacin	5.58 mg
Pantothenic acid	1.08 mg
Vitamin B6	0.65 mg
Folate	79.41 mcg
Vitamin B12	1.86 mcg
Vitamin C	57.29 mg
Vitamin E	0.32 mg ATE
Minerals
Calcium	77.7 mg
Iron	3.84 mg
Magnesium	62.25 mg
Phosphorus	261.01 mg
Potassium	1067.14 mg
Sodium	1386.21 mg
Zinc	5.85 mg
Copper	0.39 mg

Enjoy, and please leave any comments below.