Corned Beef and Cabbage

Hello everyone!! This recipe is a dual-purpose one, and it's for both the book and Saint Patrick's Day!

I know a lot of you may not care as to why I think this recipe is also representative of the characters in Eldest, but I'm gonna tell you anyway!

It's hard not to reference The Lord of the Rings sometimes, but as such it becomes inevitable. I feel the only true meal of departure from Eragon and the dwarfish guards he has is this meal. To me dwarves always have seemed to be of Irish or Scottish heritage. It could be the way in which their temperaments are described, or the way they manage their beverage of choice, or even just some of the physical descriptions that get mentioned. Therefore I determined an American-Irish staple was in order, because let's face it - true traditional Irish staples do not contain just corned beef and cabbage…

Corned Beef and Cabbage

• Corned Beef (4 Pounds)
• Cabbage (Wedged)
• Baby Carrots (1 Cup)
• Potatoes (2, Cubed)
• Garlic Cloves (2)
• Cloves (2)
• Whole Peppercorns (10)
• Water (Enough to Saturate)

Instructions

• In a crockpot place in the Garlic Cloves, Cloves, and Whole Peppercorns. Lay in the Corned Beef, and pour in enough water to come up to the half way point. 
• Cook on low for the first 40 minutes.
• Swap the crock pot over to high for the next 5-6 hours. 
• Within the last 30 minutes of cooking add in everything but the Cabbage.
• During the final 15 minutes of cooking, add in the Cabbage. 
• Plate and Enjoy!

It may not be the prettiest picture, but I was too hungry to care much. One of the problems of blogging about food…

I love the way this style of corned beef comes out, I feel that the cloves add an extra depth of flavor. I personally am excited about the speciality sandwich I have planned for tomorrow though… Needless to say I purchased lots of corned beef to make more than one type of meal…

Considering where Eragon is going to be living now in Eldest I wanted to give a lot of meat dishes for Ricky. Pretty soon there is going to be a lot of vegetarian meals to reflect the ways in which the elves live… I'm also excited for those ventures though too.

Until tomorrow then!