A big dish of red cabbage always makes an appearance at our Christmas dinner, but it's also delicious with roast ham, duck, and game. And it's even tastier the second time round - cold or reheated, the leftovers make a fantastic addition to a post-Christmas sandwich, or (if you're me), you could even just have a big bowl of them on their own.
Christmas dinner, starring red cabbage, roasties, Bronze turkey and stirfried walnut sprouts
I asked him for his secret....but apparently he just follows the recipe from Delia Smith's Christmas (no special tricks required). In case anyone fancies giving it a go, here's the recipe:
Ingredients
900g (2lb) red cabbage, tough outer leaves removed
450g (1lb) of cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
450g (1lb) onions, chopped small
1 clove garlic, chopped very small
1/4 whole nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 level teaspoon ground cloves
3 level tablespoons dark brown soft sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
10g (1/2 oz) butter
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
You will also need a large (6 pint of 3.5 litre capacity) lidded casserole dish
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Quarter your red cabbage (discarding the tough outer leaves and hard stalk), before shredding finely with a sharp knife. Chop the cooking apples, onions, and garlic, and prepare your spices and other ingredients.
Line your casserole dish with a layer of shredded cabbage, and season with salt and pepper. Follow this with a layer of chopped onions and apples, sprinkled with the garlic, spices and sugar. Continue with alternate layers until everything is in the dish.
Pour the white wine vinegar over your red cabbage mix, and place some dots of butter on the top. Put a tight-fitting lid onto your casserole dish, and cook in your pre-heated oven (at 150C) for 2 to 2¼ hours, stirring everything together once or twice during this time.
Serve...and enjoy!
Christmas dinner - yum, yum, yum
