Delia

Christmas Easy: Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

This is a recipe I have been cooking for years. It's great because it can be made the day before and gently re-heated with no last-minute bother.


Serves 12 (4 on Christmas Eve and 8 on New Year's Eve)

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas

Christmas Easy: Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
Ingredients
 2 lb (900 g) red cabbage, tough outer leaves removed
 1 lb (450 g) cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
 1 lb (450 g) onions, chopped small
 1 clove garlic, chopped very small
 ¼ whole nutmeg, freshly grated
 ¼ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
 ¼ level teaspoon ground cloves
 3 level tablespoons dark brown soft sugar
 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
 ½ oz (10 g) butter
 salt and freshly milled black pepper
 Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C).
Equipment
You will also need a 6 pint (3.5 litre) lidded flameproof casserole.

Method

First discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and remove the hard stalk. Then shred the rest of the cabbage finely, using your sharpest knife (or you can shred it in a food processor: I prefer to do it by hand; it doesn't come out so uniform).

Next, arrange a layer of shredded cabbage seasoned with salt and pepper in the casserole, then a layer of chopped onions and apples with a sprinkling of garlic, spices and sugar. Continue with these alternate layers until everything is in.

Now pour in the wine vinegar and, lastly, add dots of butter on the top. Put a tight-fitting lid on the casserole and let it cook very slowly in the oven for 2-2¼ hours, stirring everything around once or twice during the cooking.

Leave the red cabbage to cool, then freeze two-thirds of it for New Year's Eve, leaving the rest to serve four on Christmas Eve.
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