It’s March! It’s my BF Trilo’s birthday, and it’s St. Patricks Day, which can only mean: it’s time for corned beef! And lot’s of it (he describes himself as ‘stark raving Irish’). Any time I make Guinness braised corned beef, sandwiches are sure to follow. I have a great recipe that uses wagyu beef, which gives you tender, juicy, meltingly good results. Of course we cook it in the Instant Pot, because it is the best tool for the job, by far.
Stocking Up While It’s The Season
We’ve decided to be smart this year, and while the getting is good, we’re stocking up on Snake River Farms American Wagyu Corned Beef at our local Costco. We have tried a few different cuts and producers, and this has come out as our favorite.
So Much Yummy Corned Beef
So what do you do with so much corned beef? Two of those roasts I’ll be freezing so we have it for our annual trip to the desert in August (yay!). The third one, I cooked in the Instant Pot, and sliced it thin for sandwiches.
Sandwich Time!
Trilo was first up at the plate (dinner plate that is). He went for a loaded Corned Beef Trencher on a torpedo roll. What is a trencher, you ask? Trilo describes it as a pre-sandwich – you take a piece of bread, cut or dig out a trench along the top, and fill it with stuff. He slathered on the russian dressing, piled it with sliced corned beef, and then topped it with shredded gruyere cheese.
For my sandwich, since I’m keeping bread to a minimum, I went with pita bread from Oren’s Hummus, a local “Authentic Israeli” restaurant that also sells goods at the farmer’s market. Their pita bread is fresh made, and so fluffy! Since we picked some up over the weekend, it seemed like the perfect start for my corned beef sando.
I slathered on the russian dressing (Ken’s Steakhouse Russian Dressing is my favorite), layered in some sauerkraut, and added some crisp shredded red cabbage. Next, I opened the pita as wide as I could and piled in the moist, tender, corned beef, and drizzled a bit more dressing for good luck.
I added a dollop of Oren’s Hummus on the plate, and added some of the Pickled Carrot Sticks I made earlier in the week. The sandwich serves as a scoop for the hummus, which was so yummy I think I’ll layer the hummus IN the pita next time! I have to say, that was a really great sandwich!
Future Meals
Trilo is already wandering around the house this morning thinking about what sandwich he’s going to make for lunch! I did hear him mention “tacos” again, so I have a feeling that will be his direction. lol
However you do it, have fun making som great corned beef. And enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day! Sláinte!
Ingredients
- 4 lb Corned Beef Round American Wagyu Beef preferred
- Spice packet from corned beef
- 1 Yellow onion peeled and quartered
- 4 cloves Garlic whole, peeled
- 3 Bay Leaves whole
- 4 stalks Celery (optional)
- 1 can Guinness Draught Stout 14.9 oz can (or substitute any stout beer you prefer)
- Russian Dressing (for serving)
Instructions
- Gather ingredients and tools.
- Prepare the meat by removing it from packaging, saving the spice packet. Run under water to rinse quickly. Depending on the size of your Instant Pot and your corned beef, you may want to cut the meat into 2-3 chunks. For my 3.6 lb. roast, I cut it into two pieces since I want to be able to slice it later.
- Put the meat in the bottom of your inner pot. I like to put the meat with the fat side down, if possible.
- Quarter the onion and remove the skin. Chop the celery into a few large chunks as well. Peel the garlic cloves by smashing them with a knife on the cutting board to loosen the hard skin.
- Add the vegetables to the pot with the meat, and sprinkle the spice pack into the pot. Drop in the bay leaves.
- Pour the Guinness over top of everything.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot, close the vent, and set it to cook on manual, high, for 90 minutes. When the time is up, let it do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift the corned beef out of the liquid and set it to rest on the cutting board. Strain the liquid and reserve.Note: the meat will be very tender and smell delicious, but refrain from slicing it until it has a few minutes to rest. Cutting before the meat has rested will cause the juices to run out and will give you a dry corned beef.
- After 5-10 minutes resting, you can cut a few slices off. Try to only slice what you need for your meal. The meat is very soft and will tend to shred.
- Put the rest of your corned beef into an airtight container and pour back in some of the juices from the pot. This will help keep it moist. Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
- Once cooled and rested, you can use a sharp knife to carefully cut the corned beef into thin slices.
- When reheated in a pan or in the microwave with some pot juices, the highly-marbled wagyu corned beef will literally melt apart.
- Enjoy your sliced corned beef in sandwiches, tacos, or however you like! If you want to do corned beef and cabbage, you can cook the cabbage (and potatoes, carrots, etc.) separately, using the juices from the pot.
- Enjoy!
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