Corned Beef and Cabbage

Goodness Gracious do I love the stuff! I don't know why I don't make it more often! Probably because it only goes on sale in March, LOL! Every time St. Patrick 's Day rolls around I start trolling the grocery store flyer's for the best price on flat-cut corned beef brisket. Then off I go and buy at least two of the biggest they have in the case. I have to have leftovers for hash! I always make my corned beef in the crockpot and about half way through I throw carrots and potatoes in. Never the cabbage though. In my opinion cabbage should never be boiled unless you are making soup or stuffed cabbage leaves. I like to chop my cabbage and saute it in a pan with butter, garlic and cracked black pepper. After it has wilted a little bit I add a ladle or two full of the corned beef cooking liquid and let it simmer until the liquid cooks away. It's delicious. The cabbage has that corned beef seasoned taste but still retains a little crunch, not much but it certainly isn't wilted, soggy and sad like it would be if boiled away to nothing in the crockpot. I recently came across a recipe that used cabbage but, instead of buying a whole head of cabbage and chopping it yourself, the recipe used bagged coleslaw mix. GENIUS! Yes, it may be a little less economical but so much quicker and easier, especially for me since I am the only one in my house that eats cabbage. I can cook up a single portion for myself and use the rest later in soups, salads, or whatever. No muss, no fuss. I like that!