My favorite part of St. Patrick's Day is corned beef and cabbage.

First, I hope you know how easy it is to make delicious corned beef at home. I do it every year, and it's a lot like cooking your favorite roast, you're just using corned beef brisket instead of the regular beef or pork.

As I was cleaning the cabbage this year, I pulled off a single leaf, and the beauty of it really struck me. It's dense and waterproof. It is pretty tough when pulled a certain way, and it tears easily when pulled another. It reminded me of a rain jacket. That led me to think of a thatched roof. Then I wondered if I put full leaves of cabbage over the top of the whole dish as it cooked, would it hold in moisture and heat and make the meat that much more delicious?

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With visions of Les Stroud making his own shelter mixed with Blarnery Stones, I did it.

It seemed like it worked. By the way the outsides of the leaves cooked, I think that they must have been holding steam down, and the corned beef, and everything else was very juicy and succulent.

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Did the thatched cabbage make the difference, or was my corned beef recipe already just that good?

Hard to say, especially because I cook this once, maybe twice per year, and it gets rave reviews every time.

The other thing that makes it so delicious is the easy, homemade white sauce that goes along with it.

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