It has been many decades since I woke up at 3 AM to feed an infant. But that’s just what I did a few days ago. The infant, named Aggie, was a 4-legged babe. A day old “bottle” lamb carried by neighbor, Erin Phillips, to my kitchen door. 

This gentle lamb was abandoned by its mother, who went into premature labor during a coyote attack. Erin was already caring for 2 bottle/baby lambs so I volunteered to keep Aggie until the next day when she would be going to her forever home. 

Aggie was bottle fed every 3 hours (thus the 3 AM feeding) and kept nice & warm in a storage box, swaddled in blankets near the wood stove. 

But no kidding, that’s why the good Lord gives you babies when you’re young – by suppertime the next day my energy level was not in high gear.

I was happy that the meal planned, corned beef and cabbage, was quick to assemble and didn’t require attention since it was cooked in the pressure cooker. 

With St. Patrick’s day coming up, corned beef is a given. This year I added more aromatic vegetables and seasonings to give the whole dish deeper flavor, and it turned out so well that I wanted to share. 

Pressure cooked corned beef and cabbage

As far as the potatoes, onions, cabbage & carrots go, a little more, or less is OK.

Ingredients

2-1/2 to 3 pounds corned beef with spice packet

3 bay leaves

2 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)

1 onion, chopped 

1 large rib celery, chopped

Low sodium beef broth, enough to cover meat, about 4 cups

Potatoes, a good pound or so, peeled if you like, cut in half or fourths

Carrots – I used about 4 cups baby carrots

1 nice head cabbage, cut into 6ths with core left on (keeps wedges from splitting)

Instructions

Rinse beef under cold water. Pat dry and place fat side up in pressure cooker.

Add spice packet, bay, garlic, coriander, onion and celery.

Pour enough broth over to cover meat.

Place lid on, bring to high pressure and cook 70 minutes. Meat will register a minimum of 150 degrees. 

Release pressure, remove meat and keep warm. 

Discard bay leaves.

Put potatoes, carrots and cabbage into pan.

Bring to high pressure and cook 3 minutes.

Slice meat against grain. Serve with vegetables.

Pass salt and pepper.

Instapot: 

Follow instapot instructions. Meat and vegetables will cook in about the same time as the pressure cooker.

Stovetop:

Bring meat, seasonings, onion, celery and broth to a boil, lower to simmer, cover and cook 2-3 hours until meat is done.
Remove meat and keep warm.

Put vegetables in pan and cook until done, 20-30 minutes. 

Gilding the lily

Try a splash of red wine vinegar or a dollop or 2 of whipped horseradish sauce. Just whip 1 cup whipping cream, then stir in 3 tablespoons or so prepared horseradish. 

DIY corned beef spices: Just mix together, then grind finely:

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1/4 teaspoon anise seed, 6 cloves, 3 cardamom pods, 4 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons whole coriander, 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon or so crushed red pepper flakes.

Moist and buttery Irish soda bread

I use my food processor, but you can use a mixer or do it by hand. I share this recipe just about every year, it’s that popular.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 heaping cup dried cherries, raisins, cranberries or favorite dried fruit 

1 cup regular sour cream

Melted butter for brushing

Coarse sugar (opt but good)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Place piece of parchment on cookie sheet and spray parchment. 

Mix flour, soda, salt, sugar and butter until crumbly. Add cherries. Toss to combine. Blend in sour cream. Form into mound-shaped circle about 6 inches wide and 2 or so inches tall. If it’s sticky, dust hands with flour, 

Place on cookie sheet and make a cross on top.

Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Check after 40 minutes.