Beer and honey braised corned beef; that is what I was going to call it. It was a nice solid pieece of corned beef brisket, and I still had some red-skinned potatoes and all the other ingredients I needed to prepare a really nice entree. Five hours on High in the crockpot. It was all smooth moving from there.
Until I fell into one of my stupid stupors on the couch, and failed to wake up in time to tend to the corned beef. After bubbling in beer, beef broth and honey for the equivalent of 13 hours on Low, this piece of brisket was dead, Jim. After removing it from the crockpot and letting it cool, I could not find a way to cut it. Like most meats, corned beef is cut across the grain, but no matter how I turned the beef and where I started the cut, I was always working with the grain, which left a good part of this sad, dead piece of protein in shreds. Additionally, the braising liquid, enhanced by spices and butter, which all sounded so good on paper, left an odd flavor I found less than thrilling.
So I chucked the whole thing in the trash, because even the dogs wouldn't eat it.
Actually I did no such thing. I threw it in the refrigerator until I could bear to look at it the next day. And I already knew I wasn't going to waste it. I would make hash. Corned beef hash, with the potatoes, and some caramelized onions, and a bag of frozen tri-color bell peppers. Salt and pepper. A little canola oil for frying.
And it was good. Really good, tasty and homey and warm and soul-satisfying.
Best of all, Rob and Cory both proclaimed it to be the best corned beef hash they'd ever had. I'm sure the sunny side up eggs on top helped. Because you've got to top corned beef hash with a fried or poached egg.
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