We’re always trying to find interesting and tasty ways to make a meal using herbs and spices. One of our favorite spice blends is Old Bay Seasoning from McCormick Spices. Old Bay Seasoning was created in 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland by Gustav Brunn, a German Immigrant to the United States [you can read the whole story @ McCormick]. It’s great with seafood, and here in Maryland is a natural part of eating steamed blue crabs. But Old Bay is great with many other foods so we’ll share a few of our ideas.

We use Old Bay Seasoning in a variety of interesting ways, including Old Bay Hash Brown Potatoes, however one of the most different ways that we’ve used Old Bay is with a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage. If you’re familiar with Old Bay, you’ll agree that using it for Corned Beef and Cabbage sounds a little different. Well, it is and is quite delicious too. Besides that, the recipe is simple and easy to make. So here we go:

What you’ll need to make Old Bay Corned Beef and Cabbage:

• 1 lean corned beef
• 1 large head of cabbage
• 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning

• Rinse a lean corned beef under running water.
• Place the corned beef in a suitably sized dutch oven [or 12 quart pot]
• Chop cabbage into large chunks and place in pot on top of corned beef
• Blend 3 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning with 2 cups of water until dissolved. For additional flavor, put the spices that came with the corned beef in a tea ball, and add to pot.
• Pour the Old Bay Seasoned water over the cabbage and corned beef. For more flavor, put the spices that came with the corned beef in a tea ball, and add to pot.
  
• Add more water to pan so that the beef and cabbage are covered
• Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours. Taste, and add more Old Bay [to taste] about 1/2 way through cooking.