Corned Beef and Vegetable Casserole

Wanting to have something that could be made as a main course or a side dish? This is what we looked into when dusting off this book from our collection. The Spice Cookbook by Avanelle Day and Lillie Stuckey was originally published back in 1968 but don't let that

deter you. Filled with a history of various spices and their countries of origin, the book describes old uses for the spices then takes a look a large variety of recipes. Flipping through the slightly yellowed pages and looking at the different choices, we settle on Corned Beef and Vegetable Casserole. 

Corned Beef and Vegetable Casserole

2 cups cooked, diced potatoes

2 cups cooked, sliced carrots 

1 cup cooked, sliced celery

1/3 cup onion flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1 can (12 ounces) corned beef

1/4 cup vegetable cooking water (vegetable broth)

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Combine the first 8 ingredients and turn half into a 1 1/2 quart casserole. Break corned beef into small pieces over the vegetables. Cover with remaining vegetables. Add vegetable water. Combine bread crumbs and butter or margarine and sprinkle over the top. Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven (350° F). 45 minutes or until browned. 

- The Artist - 

There were a couple of slight differences to the recipe that I had done but was still thrilled with the results. Instead of using cooked vegetables, I used fresh raw vegetables. The other change I did was 2 cans of corned beef instead of one and not using extra salt, instead opting to rely on the saltiness of the meat to do the work instead. I assembled the casserole as the directions instructed but at the 45 minute point, I stirred everything then put it back into the oven for an additional 25 minutes to finish the cooking process of the potatoes. The end result was tender vegetables complimented by the texture of the salty corned beef. The best way to describe the experience of this is like eating a deconstructed pot roast dinner. In the future when making this particular dish, I will probably experiment with adding other vegetables such as corn or even turnips.