Cornbeef And Cabbage Recipe

Boetje's mustard in the kitchen with a knife

Even people who love corned beef and cabbage often admit that the cabbage component is a little weak.

Ruth Weber of Davenport has an answer for that: Boetje’s Stone Ground Dutch Mustard.

Weber has made for some 35 years a mustard-based sauce for the cabbage that is able to win over skeptics. And it won her first place in the sauce category of a Boetje’s Mustard cooking contest a week ago at the Rock Island County Fair.

Judges loved the way the sauce perked up the cabbage. In addition to mustard, the sauce includes brown and white sugar, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. (You’ll find her recipe as well as most of the other winners inside this section.)

Boetje’s is a Quad-City original, having been developed in 1889 in Rock Island by German immigrant Fred Boetje. Although the business is no longer in the Boetje family, production facilities remain in Rock Island.

The idea for the contest was a collaborative effort, said Becky Buckrop, the program coordinator for marketing and development at the University of Illinois Extension/Rock Island County.

Boetje’s general manger Will Kropp and Rock Island County Fair Board president Bill McKinley had long talked about doing something with Boetje’s at the fair and that, combined with a desire to promote local food, resulted in the contest.

In addition to the corned beef sauce, the competition produced other perk-up ideas that any cook could adapt. Here’s a look at the first-place winners.

Meat: Diane DeBord of Coal Valley, Ill., recently retired from her catering business, won with Peachy Pork Tenderloins, a recipe she got from her mother. “Belgians put Boetje’s in everything,” she said.

Pork medallions are covered with a sauce made with peach preserves, apple cider vinegar and Boetje’s.

Second place went to Mike Anderson of Eldridge with a simple, four-ingredient paste that he slathers on pork chops and pork steak.

It’s a mix of ham bouillon, brown sugar and Boetje’s, moistened with “whatever you’re drinking,” he explains. That could be water, beer, wine or juice (but probably not milk).

“It’s very versatile,” he notes.

Salad: Brad Schofield of Davenport says he puts Boetje’s “in everything.” His inclusion of the mustard in a coleslaw sauce — along with mayonnaise, sugar and yellow mustard — wins over his family as well as judges. He’s made this salad for his family at least 15 times this season.

Chef Tom Cooks !» Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage

1 Medium head cabbage, cut into 6 wedges

Directions

Place celery, carrots, onion and potatoes in the bottom of a large slow-cooker. Rinse the corned beef brisket and place over vegetables. Add the Guinness and enough water to just cover the meat. Cover and cook on LOW for eight to nine hours.

Remove the meat and vegetables from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Add the cabbage to the liquid in the slow cooker. Increase heat to high and cook cabbage until tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Serve.

Slice brisket across the grain, serve with vegetables, mustard and horseradish sauce. Pass extra cooking liquid at the table.

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