I've never been one for changing up traditions, especially ones that preceed me. Take corned beef and cabbage for instance. From what I understand, this is not really a traditional Irish celebration meal. It was, in fact, popularized by the Americans. So in honor of the American culture, we thought it would be a good idea to start our own St. Patty's Day dinner celebration. Now I am married to an Irishman who cannot stand corned beef or cabbage so we altered the preparation a little. We thought, "let's GRILL a corned beef!" ... and we did. Here's how it started: Corned beef is a beef brisket that has been salted and seasoned to preserve it. In fact the term “corned” comes from the very coarse salt used long ago in this process. In the Old English, corn referred to grain (American corn or maize was still unknown to Europe) about the size of the coarse salt used, hence, “corned” beef. The secret to cooking corned beef is to get that salt back out. This is typically done by boiling it with potatoes and other vegetables. Potatoes are particularly good at absorbing salt. Tradition dictates that cabbage is then boiled in the water you boiled the beef it. This flavors the cabbage. So I bought a 6 lb. corned beef and soaked it in warm water for a few hours, changing the water every hour or so, and then patted it dry and seasoned it with my own bbq spice rub. I am having issues with my husband in regards to a new grill (a totally long story) so since I was grilling this beef low and slow, and was so afraid of flare ups, I put it on a grill pan. We used an indirect grill method keeping the temp at 225 for about 3 hours.
In the mean time, Mary had some beautiful BBQ Baked Beans cooking in her crock pot. We transferred them into a preheated oven to thicken up while the beef cooked. She uses a combination of black beans and red beans with chiptole peppers and sauce for a nice smokey, spicy kick. There was a sweet hint of molasses and brown sugar that perfectly paired with the spice. 
Earlier in the evening, instead of watery, boiled up cabbage, I made a nice and crispy fresh cole slaw. Half head green, half head purple mixed with slivered carrots, red onion, poblano pepper and sweet red pepper. Add a nice handful of sugar & celery seed, 2 handfuls of dill, a little onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Add equal parts of real mayonaise and sour cream, mix thoroughly. This tastes best if left in the fridge for an hour or so. The end result is gorgeous and DEE-LISH!
The drinks of choice were interesting. We did a few nice Black & Tans with Guiness and Harp, some
Smithwicks, and a couple odd ones we picked up along the way. You know, we love to sample!
We weren't supposed to opent the Reuben beer because it's a collectors item. I kinda wish we didn't because it was really bad. Oh well, whatever!
I know you've been asking "Where's the beef?" (sorry, I couldn't resist) and HERE IT IS:
This, my friends, is the way we'll be serving up St. Patty's day dinner at my house from now on. It wasn't quite a regular bbq'd beef brisket, it still had a lot of the corned beef attributes to it that set it apart and we really like that. Plus, Mary's family said the leftovers made fabulous corned beef hash topped with poached eggs for breakfast the next day. Damn, wish I'd have tried that!
Thanks for joining us. Not sure what we're cooking next so check back during the week. We'll have your seat at the bar and a nice chilled glass ready for you!
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