RECIPE DOCTOR
St. Patrick's Day feast simmers slowly

By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service

With a last name like Magee, you know I've got to have a couple of killer Irish recipes up my sleeve and I'm going to share a couple in honor of St. Patrick's Day, March 17. What I love about this recipe — which I just literally threw together one fine St. Patrick's Day morning many years ago — is that it involves just four easy ingredients: corned beef with its seasoning packet, a few potatoes, a small head of cabbage and — get this — a bottle of nonalcoholic beer cooked long and slow.

To make this dish more healthful, trim all visible fat from the corned-beef brisket. And since we don't have any visible fat on the brisket, there is practically no fat melting into the broth — so you can happily enjoy a big spoonful of broth poured over your portion of the corned beef, potatoes and cabbage. If you don't have a slow cooker, you can make this dish in a large, heavy pot in the oven, covered, with the temperature set to 225 degrees.

Slow-cooked corned beef

• 2 1/2 pound (approximately) boneless corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
• 3 large potatoes (cut each into 8 pieces or chunks)
• 1 bottle or can (12 oz) of nonalcoholic beer
• 1 small head of cabbage, shredded or cut into 1/3-inch slices

Trim brisket of all visible fat and remove seasoning packet from brisket package.

Set brisket in bottom of slow cooker and sprinkle the seasonings from packet evenly over the top.

Spread potatoes evenly over the top of the brisket and pour the bottle of beer over the top of the potatoes. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low and let cook about 7 hours. After about 4-5 hours, you can spoon some of the broth from the bottom of the slow cooker over the potatoes if desired.

About an hour before you will serve the dish (or after the 7 hours of cooking on low), place the shredded cabbage over the top of the potatoes, cover again, and let cook another hour or so or until the cabbage is just tender.

Serve this dish in individual soup dishes — with each serving getting a nice chunk of the corned beef, plenty of potatoes and cabbage and a big spoon of broth poured over the top. Makes 4 generous servings.

Per serving: 476 calories, 35 g protein, 48 g carbohydrate, 16 grams fat, 6 grams saturated fat, 9 grams monounsaturated fat, 1 gram polyunsaturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 5 grams fiber, 1,450 mg sodium. (Fat and sodium amounts are based on estimates. Actual values may vary with individual corned beef.) Calories from fat: 30 percent. (Omega-3s and 6s unavailable.) Weight Watchers: 10 points.

Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "The Flax Cookbook." Readers may write to her through her Web site at www.recipedoctor.com.

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