Braised Red Cabbage a.k.a. German Food Fest

*Post by Angela.

Like any committed food geek, I loved themed dinners. Last week, I had the urge to make a German-ish dinner for our two vegetarian friends, a dinner which included homemade spatzle, beer brats (veggie brats for our guests, meat brats, pictured below, for us), baked spinach and braised red cabbage. While everything turned out pretty well (Mark claimed it was one of his favorite meals of all time), the red cabbage was my favorite thing on the table - vinegary and slightly sweet, with a complex yet subtle spiciness. And you know what? It's maybe one of the easiest things to make, ever.

 

List of ingredients:

• 1 large head red cabbage, cored and cut into 2" pieces
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced into rings
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 2 whole allspice
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cold water

I hauled my biggest pot out of the cabinet and threw all of the ingredients in. To avoid having to fish them out later, you can make a little spice bag out of cheesecloth for the peppercorns, allspice, cloves and bay leaf, but...with everything else happening in the kitchen that day, I just did not care enough to take this step. Plus, I don't have any cheesecloth. In fact, I don't know anybody who does have cheesecloth in his or her kitchen...Anyway, the most difficult step to this dish is right here - kinda tossing the ingredients in the pot so that they're sort of distributed.

 

I brought the liquid in the pot up to a boil (I couldn't actually see the liquid boiling, so I just had to listen for it), then reduced the heat to low, covered the pot and simmered for about an hour and 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cabbage was nice and tender. I made a slurry by stirring together the cornstarch and 2 tbsp water, then poured it into the pot, stirred and cooked just a minute or two more - the slurry will thicken up the liquid just a smidge.

 

It really is that simple. This makes a TON of cabbage, so be ready to eat leftovers (which stay good for quite a few days, since the cabbage is cooked in vinegar), which I was happy to do. And this recipe is definitely going on my Oktoberfest menu next fall. Up next? I'm thinking a Cuban-themed meal... 

Comments

[lynn @ the actor's diet]

yum. big pot of cabbage. i could just eat it off my lap with a fork.

[Angela]

:) Yeah, I always forget how much I love cabbage, and then a dish like this brings it all back. Also, if you did eat the entire pot, it still wouldn't be all that unhealthy...(except for all that sugar).

[Marie]

I love red cabbage done up this way! I am a cabbage lover. :)

[Angela]

Me too! I don't usually have red cabbage though, so this was a nice change. I think I want to try to make cabbage rolls soon.