The 3 C's: Corned Beef, Cabbage and Cornbread

Since Christmas is like 2 days away, I didn't want to make a big meal because we are gonna have a lot of leftovers. So today, I made a small corn beef brisket, half a head of cabbage and homemade cornbread. Only leftovers is the corn bread, which will be eaten over the holiday.So Corn beef comes with a packet of seasoning. So the longest part of preparing this meat is boiling it in water with the packet of seasoning until it is fork tender. Then remove the meat from the water and place in a pan, fat side up and let bake until fat is golden brown. Then slice.For the cabbage, there are many ways to make it. My mom always use to boil it in water with some smoked meat. I use to do it that way as well, but now I like to pan cook it. I first, render out some salt pork, or fat-back for the oil that come off of it and the salt content.In the same pan with more than half the oil removed, I stir-fry the cabbage that I have sliced, until it is tender, but not soggy. I season with black pepper.Cornbread is so good, and I will admit that I typically just make a box of jiffy mix cornbread. But today, I decided to make it from scratch. One cup of flour, One cup of yellow corn meal, two teaspoons of baking powder, 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, and about a cup to a cup and a half of milk. Mix together.In a baking dish, or round bread pan or cassarole dish, melt some butter in the oven, about 3 tablespoons, or 3 thin slices. Make sure the bottom and sides of the dish or pan are greased, and pour remaining melted butter in the mixture, and stir. Then pour mixture in dish or pan and bake until brown and cooked through at 350 or 375 degrees. Take a steak knife and poke through center, if the knife comes back clean then the cornbread is done. If there is still mixture on the knife, turn down oven and let bake a few more minutes.A little goes a long way with this meal. The bread alone is sweet and filling.