Worried for nothing--Irish Grinders

Irish Grinders
Better Homes and Gardens Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes Copyright 2003

1 2 to 3 pound corned beef brisket with spice packet I used a low-sodium one, only 1.5 pounds and it didn't have a seasoning packet
1 cup water I used 1/2 cup
1/3 cup Dijon-style mustard I used about half the amount and I used spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish I used about 1 1/2 tsps
4 cups coarsely shredded cabbage
8 whole wheat Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns, split and toasted
Dijon-style mustard I used Thousand Island dresssing instead

1. Trim fat from meat. Sprinkle spices from packet evenly over meat; rub in with your fingers. If necessary, cut meat to fit into a 3 ½ or 4-quart slow cooker. Place meat in the cooker. In a small bow combine the water, 1/3 cup mustard and horseradish. Pour mustard mixture over meat. Top with cabbage.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.
3. Transfer meat to a cutting board. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Arrange meat slices on roll bottoms. With a slotted spoon, place some of the cooked cabbage on meat. Spread additional mustard on roll tops. Add roll tops.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 344 cal, 19g fat, 4 g sat fat, 58 mg chol, 312 mg sodium, 26g carbs, 17g fiber, 32 g protein
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I was a bit worried about this, since things didn't go exactly as planned. I had this corned beef in the freezer since just after St. Paddy's Day and I discovered there was no seasoning packet with it. Would the cabbage be flavorful enough? I was too lazy to research the proper seasonings.

I don't like things too liquidy in the crockpot so I halved the sauce but kept the cabbage amount about the same and that worked out great. I used spicy brown mustard since I had an excess of that whereas I'm always running out of Dijon and my favorite brand is hard to find. I thought the flavor and the consistency of the sauce and cabbage was just right.

I didn't get to cook this as long as I would have liked to. The meat wasn't falling apart tender. I made it the night before and just sliced it thinly and reheated it in the cabbage and sauce and I thought it was just perfect. I really like the low-sodium corned beef (or maybe it's just lower-sodium but it's still an improvement over the traditional version).

My only regret is that a slice of swiss cheese would have been great on these too but I didn't think about that until it was too late. It would have been a nice addition but I still felt the cabbage, corned beef and Thousand Island dressing combination was very satisfying on it's own.

I have a couple of other Better Homes and Gardens slow cooker cookbooks but I like this one that I checked out of the library better, despite the low-carb angle. It calls for a few low-sugar items but otherwise the recipes are rather 'normal'. Bad carbs don't work all that great in the crockpot - pasta, potatoes, rice, etc can be mushy and gummy in a slow cooker.

Blast From The Past: The New York Reuben from May 2007. These Irish Grinders are similar to Reubens but since they aren't grilled and there's no cheese (although cheese would be great on these), they have a slight nutritional advantage.

Question of the Day: Do you like corned beef?