Christmas Red Cabbage

[lucertola28]

Hi

I’m cooking Christmas dinner for the first time this year for my family.

Would love to make a nice red cabbage side as we’ve never had it.

I’ve googled various recipes but was wondering does anyone have a recommendation of a really nice recipe?

Thank you 😊

Mmm I love red cabbage though I only have the M&S ready made one so don't know any recipes

I always use a delia recipe - www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/life-in-the-freezer/traditional-braised-red-cabbage-with-apples . It's dead easy, tastes fab and is freezeable.

I adapt the Delia recipe by substituting cranberry sauce for the apples. It's so delicious that every year I have to make it for my parents, siblings and in-laws.[santa]

I have never made Red Cabbage but this year I have a slow cooker so I'll give it a try.
I don't like cinnamon in savoury foods though. I might omit this and just use the cloves and nutmeg.

I;ve tried Sainsbury, Waitrose and M&S red cabbage , all nice

This is the one I always use

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8817/sticky-spiced-red-cabbage

Freezes well too so you can make it in advance

I use a recipe (adapted) from my late Dutch mother in law.
It’s sweeter than a lot of recipes as it has only a tablespoon of cider vinegar per cabbage.
Ingredients:

I red cabbage
3 or 4 cooking apples
1 onion
1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of muscovado dark sugar
3 or 4 tablespoons of red wine
Cinnamon and clove (both powdered) to taste.
You can add ginger if you like a bit more kick.
Pinch of salt and black pepper.

Method

Remove the tough stalk from the cabbage base, and finely shred the leaves. Finely chop the onion.
Peel, core and chop the apples.
Put all the ingredients in a large pan, bring to the boil, then gently simmer for 20 mins, stirring as needed to stop it sticking. You may need to add a little more red wine, depending on how sloppy you like the final mixture.
You can make it well in advance and store it in the freezer, simply defrost overnight on Xmas Eve. Or it keeps for a few days in the fridge too.
Even diluted by the apples, it still has a lovely deep purple colour, and looks very festive as part of Xmas dinner.

I use Nigella's from the Christmas book. It's lovely and sweet and smells relish. Think the recipe is online too so you don't need to buy the book.

Also know from experience that Delia's need three lots of cooking to get the best flavour.

I make it but the secret is in removing the tough outer leaves and stalk, shredding finely and cooking on slow for a looong time. I have bought the ready-made from Waitrose in the past and it is really lovely - I might do the same this year as it does save on hassle!

Snap @ZiggyStardusters - in fact I made mine this week as it takes a long time to braise in the oven. Now I have two bags in the freezer ready for a couple of upcoming dinners I have planned.

The house smelt amazing that day.

Thank you all so much! I’m going to try out a couple of the recipes this week, they all sound delicious

Defo Google the BBC food or Delia one with cranberries. It's phenomenal and so so good with a baked ham.

I use Delia's recipe but use a Schwarz mulled wine sachet instead of the fresh spices for a more subtle flavour