Cooked red cabbage is not something you fiddle about with in this house. Mr Misk just won’t have that. Danes hold it high esteem. He has his recipe for it, a slightly tweaked one from his mother, and now I have one that I can claim as my own. His and her red cabbage recipes. Game on, as they say. Mine is more subtle, less acidic, less jumping on your face and grabbing attention. Mine luxuriates in its own natural juices in a low temp oven. Mr Misk’s version is boiled fiercely in vinegar. I prefer subtle. Here’s my version of subtlety.
Half-Baked Red Cabbage
½ red cabbage, shredded
15 g soft butter
½ red onion, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon Half Spoon sugar 100ml white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon red currant jelly (no seeds!)
Preheat the oven to 120C.
Cut the cabbage in half. Remove the centre core and the limp outer leaves. Shred it. Be sure to double check that you’re using the slicing disk rather than the grater disk if using the food processor. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this mistake with my Magimix.
Heat the butter in a heavy-bottom pan (one with a lid that fits tightly), and gently sauté the onion until soft. Don’t brown. Add the shredded cabbage, stir and toss so that the butter and onion is mixed through. On low heat, bring everything back up to temperature (approx. 2 minutes). Add the sugar, then add half the vinegar. Add more vinegar later if the pan begins to go dry. Stir well.
Press a square of parchment paper against the cabbage to help retain moisture, clamp on the pan’s lid, bring back up to temperature over low heat ( about 2 minutes), and then put in the oven at a low temperature, about 120C. Bake for 60-90 minutes, stirring at 30-minute intervals.
Just before serving, stir in the red currant jelly. Be sure that it melts completely, gently folding cabbage to distribute throughout. Add salt if needed. If you like it more acidic, add more vinegar before serving.
Original recipe from The Telegraph, January 2013. I reduced the sugar and butter significantly.
The Chalk Hills Kitchen 