I cooked: Braised Red Cabbage with Apples (Rotkohl)

To serve with our duck confit, I made some braised red cabbage with apples as a side dish. A classic German dish, rotkohl or braised red cabbage is usually served with rich mains such as duck, goose, game, sausages and pork. The vinegar is an essential ingredient to maintain the cabbage's bright purple / red colour.

This is a pretty simple dish, it does not take long to prepare and you can simply leave it to braise for 1 1/2 hours. One of the things I love about cooking is that you get to tweak the recipe as you please, and create a taste which suits you best. Less sweet, more sour, however you please. I loved the acidic tang of this dish and the aroma from all the spices were just heady.

The following recipe has been adapted from several online recipes to suit my tastebuds.


Braised Red Cabbage with Apples (Rotkohl)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
Serves 4


Ingredients
1 small red cabbage, finely sliced and core removed
25g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
100ml red wine vinegar
250ml cold water
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp redcurrant jelly


1. In a pot, melt butter and cook onion for 5 minutes until softened.

2. Stir in the spices and then add the cabbage, apple, red wine vinegar, sugar and water. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Check ocassionally to ensure that it hasn't gone dry. Add more water if necessary.

3. The cabbage should be quite tender with a slight bite to it and the liquid should have evaporated. Add the redcurrant jelly and cook for a further 2 mins until the jelly has blended in.

4. Serve warm.

Wonderfully appetizing

Duck Confit with Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

For the duck confit and pomme de terre a la sarladaise recipe, click here.

Note: This is a dish you can make a day in advance. To reheat, place in a pot with 2-3 tbsp of water and simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes.