Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith's Christmas recipe book. It's a great recipe which can be made in advance and freezes really well in smaller portions. It works well with turkey, game and even the humble sausage!

Ingredients

1 kg/2lb red cabbage
450g/1lb onions, chopped small
450g/1lb cooking apples, cored peeled and chopped small
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped small
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated or ground.
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 tablespoons water
butter
salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to Gas mark 2 150 C 130 Fan

Method

Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Shred the cabbage either in a food processor or by hand but not too finely.

Put the sugar, spices and garlic together in a bowl and mix well.

Using a large container, I use a large roasting tin, put a layer of cabbage then onion and apple, season with salt and pepper then sprinkle on some of the sugar, spices and garlic. Build up in layers in this way until all the ingredients are used up.

Mix the water and vinegar together and pour over the mixture, dot the top with small knobs of butter.

Cover  with a lid or tin foil and cook for 2-21/2 hours, test to make sure the cabbage is soft.

 

It fills the house with wonderful spicy aromas and makes it quite Christmassy!