Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all. Like a large percentage of Portlanders, I’ll be celebrating by running a great 8k race tomorrow morning and then freezing my butt off in the beer garden, enjoying a lovely brew and then going home to bury myself in blankets and drink something hot. The race is always fun and totally worth it, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a smidge chilly.

Hopefully we will also be enjoying some more of this delightful corned beef and cabbage (though for the second round we might do a hash). This was the first time we made corned beef at home, and I loved it – and not just because the beef turned out perfectly (well done, Dave). The end result of the crisp cabbage, the piles of vegetables and the perfectly salty, warming broth was the ultimate comfort food. I had to go back for more cabbage and broth. So how many times have you heard someone say that?

Here’s what you need to corn the beef (if you scroll down, there are more ingredients and instructions for the full dish):

2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 (2 pound) beef brisket

In a large pot, place the water, salt, sugar, cinnamon, mustard seeds, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and ginger. Cook until the sugar and salt dissolved allow to cool completely to room temperature.

Add the brisket to a plastic container that has a lid, and pour the brine over it (as much as will fit in your container). Close up the container and allow to brine (or “corn” in this case) in the fridge for three days, stirring/shaking occasionally.

Then, for the full dish, you will need:

1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
3 medium potatoes, dieced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small head cabbage, chopped, approximately 2 pounds

Take the corned beef out of its brine and move it to a large stock pot. Add the pepper, allspice, bay leaves and salt and cover with 3-4 quarts water. Bring to a boil on high heat, and then cover and turn the heat to low. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.

After those 2 1/2 hours are up, add the carrots, onions, potatoes and celery. Turn the heat back up a bit and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chopped cabbage, and then cook for another 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls with plenty of veggies, cabbage and beef, with lots of broth spooned over the top.