Tuesday 24 December 2013

Braised Red Cabbage

Currently cooking in my oven ready for tomorrow's Festive feast, braised red cabbage is one of my favourite accompaniments. Sweet and savoury, it goes so well with everything, from your traditional turkey, goose or duck to simple pan fried sausages.

The key is to get the spices, sugar and vinegar correct so that you get a mouthful of sweet and savoury rather than top heavy on one or the other. Then simply place it in a low oven for a couple of hours. It can then be eaten straight from the pot or put aside and reheated for another day. Lovely.

Braised Red Cabbage

1 small red cabbage or half a large red cabbage, cored and sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 apples, cored and sliced
4 tbsp soft brown sugar
4 tbsp cider or red wine vinegar
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper
50g butter

1 - Pre-heat the oven to 160C/GM3.
2 - Put all of the ingredients except for the butter into a large casserole dish and stir well. Bring to the heat on the hob.
3 - Dot with the butter and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Cook for 2 to 2 and a half hours, checking each hour to see that it isn't cooking dry. if so, add a splash of water and stir.

Mexican Bean Soup

Ingredients - Feeds 4 2 tbsp olive oil 4 spring onions, sliced 2 sticks of celery, diced 1 red pepper, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, sliced 2 ...