Bear Paw Meanderings

This month this column is mainly recipes. Today a wonderful way to cook corn beef and cabbage using a secret sauce that took me years to find out how to make. It makes the dish. Be sure to serve the sauce warm at the table on March 17 or whenever you make your corn beef and cabbage. It is a perfect dunk for this meal.

A friend served this sauce that she said was her secret sauce. After years of begging like a shameful dog, I finally found out that the sauce was simple, just equal parts of regular yellow mustard and brown sugar. So that is the sauce.

You will need for this meal

A 4 pound corned beef with spices

1 onion quartered

Salt, pepper, garlic and the seasoning packet

12 baby potatoes scored to make them look fancy

A head of cabbage cut into eight wedges

Five carrots cut into long strands

In a large kettle fill with water so it is a couple of inches above the corn beef. Add the corn beef, seasonings and onion. Bring to a boil, cover and very gently not quite simmer for 2 hours. This is difficult. You don’t want the corned beef to get tough and if it simmers too hard, it will. About 20 minutes before the corn beef is done, turn your oven to 400. After two hours put the corn beef on a baking pan and slather it with secret sauce, you are going to bake it at 400 for a half hour more, slathering it with more sauce every ten minutes.

Meanwhile while that is all happening, turn your pot liquids into a rapid boil. Here is your cooking chart for what is left to cook. At a rapid boil, your carrots and potatoes will take a scant half hour. Your cabbage should take about 20 minutes. It does not matter if the corn beef sits covered for up to a half hour before serving. Don’t forget to put the secret sauce on the table for dunking.

Bon Appétit!