Name: Slow Cooked Corned Beef with Spicy Guinness Gravy and Caramelized Cabbage
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 320 min
Ingredients: 1 bell pepper (chopped); 2 habanero peppers (chopped); 1 stalk celery (chopped); 1 large onion (chopped); 4 cloves garlic (chopped); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3 pound corned beef brisket; 2 bottles Guinness beer - enough to almost cover the beef; 3-4 tablespoons spicy mustard – I used our Homemade Habanero-Horseradish Mustard; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 tablespoon flour; 2 tablespoons olive oil; ½ head medium sized cabbage (shredded); 1 white onion (chopped); 2 jalapeno peppers (chopped into rings); ¼ cup white wine; 1 teaspoon sugar; Water as needed; ¼ cup balsamic vinegar; Lemon for serving

A recipe for corned beef, cooked low and slow, then served with a rich, creamy, and slightly spicy gravy made with Guinness beer and habanero peppers. This is NOT your traditional corned beef and cabbage recipe. Think outside the box this year.

This is sort of a long recipe, my friends, but you know what? It is seriously worth it. I'm posting this one early this year, long enough before St. Patrick's Day so that you can have an option outside of the traditional corned beef and cabbage recipe you might have every year.

Don't get me wrong!

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with traditional corned beef and cabbage, but every now and then, we like something different.

Know what I mean?

We're using all the same ingredients, with a few more tossed in - you know, chili peppers! Habanero! Jalapeno! The good stuff - along with Guinness Beer. Cooking the corned beef low and slow in Guinness beer infuses the beef with immense flavor and tenderness, and it will also form your freakishly delicious gravy for your topping.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. DANG. Guinness Gravy.

Bust out your Dutch Oven for this recipe. If you don't have one, any oven safe pot will do, as long as it is large enough to hold the ingredients.

You can also make this in your slow cooker or crock pot, but it takes 8-10 hours for that method, whereas this was ready in 4 hours, and it was finger shredding tender.

Take a look.

You can see it already started to shred up around the edges. It pulls right apart with your fingers, so be careful cutting it. Melts in your mouth. YUM.

The key to the overall spice level is the addition of two habanero peppers. You won't get any blazing heat here, as there are so many other ingredients and they're strained out at the end, but if you think the habanero heat will be too much for you, consider other milder peppers, like serrano or jalapeno peppers.

Cook up your vegetables, then add the corned beef brisket to the pot along with Guinness beer, spicy mustard and honey, and cook it low and slow for 4 hours, flipping the beef about half way through.

Once it's done and SUPER tender, remove the beef and strain out the liquid to form your gravy. Make a simple roux and swirl in the spiked Guiness, and boom!

GUINNESS GRAVY!

Patty and I were both like, WOW! This is seriously great stuff.

We also served up the cabbage differently as well. Instead of cabbage wedges and potatoes, we served the beef over mashed potatoes and caramelized the cabbage with peppers and onions, with the addition of a bit of balsamic vinegar.

They aren't the prettiest veggies around, but we LOVE them. Don't forget the lemon for the acid pop of flavor.

I've included the recipe for this below.

The thing about caramelizing vegetables is you need to keep an eye on the process. It takes a while, but I like hanging in the kitchen with some tunes, paying attention to the food.

And maybe drinking a Guinness. Yep. Heaven for me.

As the veggies cook down, add a bit of moisture here and there to make sure they don't dry out. Not much, just a teaspoon or so of water or a broth. A single spoonful of sugar also helps to speed up the process.

The result? Sweet and richly flavored cabbage with peppers. Oh yeah!

It all turned out great. So, if you're thinking about corned beef and cabbage this year but you want something a bit different, this recipe is one we hope you will consider.

I'd make this again in a heartbeat.

Patty's Perspective

It's so cool to enjoy such a unique take on corned beef and cabbage. It was very juicy and tender. It was a perfect pairing with mashed potatoes for this Midwestern meat and potatoes girl. And I have two works for you. "Guinness Gravy!"

Try Some of My Other Popular Corned Beef Recipes

Slow Cooker Corned Beef - How To
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef - Tender Corned Beef in a Hurry!
Corned Beef Tacos with Creamy Cabbage Slaw
Corned Beef Hash – Madness Style
Corned Beef Stuffed Peppers
Irish Nachos with Homemade Beer Cheese

If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.