Corned Beef, Red Flannel Hash, and Cabbage Soup

I have never much cared for corned beef. Tough and fatty, it is highly processed and seems the very opposite of health food. Besides, we seldom eat beef of any kind. Nevertheless, corned beef was on sale last week, as was cabbage (at 19 cents a pound!). So I succumbed and, following an old recipe, made a New England Boiled Dinner, with potatoes, beets, carrots, and of course, cabbage. It wasn't too bad.

The same old cookbook had a recipe for Red Flannel Hash, made from the leftovers of the first recipe. You drain off the liquid, chop up the meat and vegetables, and bake in a cast iron skillet lined with butter until it is brown and crusty. It was very tasty.

Some other leftovers remained, including about a quart of cooking broth from the boiled dinner and half of a large green cabbage. Skimming the fat from the cooking broth and adding chicken broth to make two quarts, I used it in my cabbage soup recipe. The taste was delightful! I'm still not a fan of corned beef brisket, but wish the recipes using the leftovers weren't one-offs.

Reheating the soup for another meal