Red Cabbage

Why is it that Red (purple!) Cabbage is so different to green cabbage? I suppose it is because it loses its red colour when boiled and ends up looking grey and unappetising. For this reason, we normally use Red Cabbage in a way which allows the use of vinegar, which helps the cabbage to retain its colour.

A couple of days ago I wrote about the venison meal we had, including braised Red Cabbage. This post tells you more about it. This was the starting point - one "Marner Langerrot" cabbage. It weighed 900 grams.

I used only half of it to make my braised cabbage dish, because it was very densely-packed.

It's amazingly beautiful isn't it?

I removed the central core and with a large knife shredded the leaves

I put the shredded cabbage into a large ovenproof casserole and added the following;
1 x cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 x dessertspoon brown sugar
1 x tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 x teaspoon balsamic vinegar
(Some people might like to add a few raisins for extra sweetness)

I mixed the ingredients by hand to distribute the vinegar evenly, then covered the dish and put it into a slow oven (approx 120C) for four hours. Every hour or so I checked progress and stirred the dish to prevent it drying. Depending on the moisture content of your cabbage and apple, you may need to add a little water. I didn't.

When cooked the cabbage should be reasonably soft but not sloppy. It's nice if it retains a bit of texture. This is what mine looked like:

Braised Red Cabbage re-heats well, so this is something you can make in advance a set aside for warming up later, which takes a bit of the stress out of co-ordinating all the elements of a meal. Just to remind you, this is how mine was served - with venison steak, potato-and-celeriac mash and roast parsnips...

Braised Red Cabbage is also a classic accompaniment to Lancashire Hotpot.

If you're wondering what became of the other half of my cabbage - Jane made it into Pickled Red Cabbage - if you need a recipe, follow the link...


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P.S. I had quite a few comments yesterday on the Callicarpa photo, so I thought I would pander to the whims of the Callicarpa fans and post a couple more photos of it...