Thursday, May 24, 2007

Red cabbage

Red cabbage.

Or should that be purple?

Not a favourite. Before now that is.


Shredded and braised for two hours with diced beetroot.

Red wine vinegar, soft brown sugar, onion and garlic to make it sweet and sour.

Sticky, caramelised bits on the bottom of the pot.

Crumbled goat's milk feta and roasted walnuts tossed through at the end.

Good with green lentils, I'm sure. But just as good with a glass of red wine and your feet up on the couch.



Now, what to do with the other half?

10 comments:

Susan said...

Just hunted down natural liquid food coloring, and the blue is made from red cabbage. The red is made from beets. I vote purple for the finished meal.

Lucy, this is so inventive. I think I'll go put my feet up on the couch just thinking about it.

Cynthia said...

Hmmmm, hmmmmm difficult to say what to do with the other half. Here's why. What you did with the first half was so gourmet that to now come up with something for the other half, I don't know, maybe something in its raw, natural state? I have an idea. Oh, I know, I know (lol)

Shred the cabbage, doesn't have to be to finely shredded.

Put your frying pan on and crank up the heat. Drizzle some oil in the pan.

When the pan starts to smoke, add the cabbage to the pan and keep turning it with tongs or a spoon. Stop in between, only long enough to add a few grinds of black pepper, a few drops of lemon juice and some salt to taste. Keep turning the cabbage, with the high heat, the ends should be browning a bit.

Turn off the stove. Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with some chives and serve.

Warda said...

If I just put my feet up on th couch will I still get you braised cabbage because it sounds divine. Like if it wasn't enough you add goat cheese and walnuts. Where is the couch? where a re my feet?

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I didn't think cabbage could sound so appealing (and I really like cabbage). This is a winning combination of flavors!

Lucy said...

Purple it is - I'm with you Susan. Quite a startling shade too. Where did you get your natural dyes from? I once used dried, ground beetroot powder in a vegetable tandoori dish and it worked rather well.

Cynthia. Yum. I knew someone could guide me - fresh, crisp and quick. Thanks! The chives would be beautiful against that colour.

Rose, the best thing is that you can put your feet up while it's cooking as well!

I'm not a huge fan of cabbage Susan, but this is really rich and warming. The nights are getting chilly down here.

Christina said...

Sounds delicious, and lovely, and staining, but worth it.

Susan said...

The brand of food coloring is India Tree. I had to order them through Amazon. They have a broad product line, but aren't a major presence in the stores, and not all products are naturally derived. I wanted it chiefly for tinting frostings and other sweets.

Cynthia's idea for the cabbage sounds good to me, but if it's still too much the cabbage, you could parboil the leaves and stuff them with a fried pilaf of rice (regular and wild), mushrooms and onions. Add vegetable stock to a skillet and cook rolls on low heat until cabbage is tender. Remove rolls to plate, then add some light cream to the skillet, and let sauce reduce.

Lucy said...

Yeah Christina, you don't want to eat this wearing white!

Susan, that is a really, really, REALLY lovely idea. Wild rice is so perfect at this time of the year and I have just enough left in the pantry. That creamy sauce would be the perfect touch, right at the end.

Johanna GGG said...

great colour - I think I like looking at purple cabbage more than eating it - but it is such a great wintery food - a friend and I did a cabbage dish with cranberries and orange juice a while back and it was a fantastic accompaniment to a roast!

Lucy said...

Johanna - it's the colour isn't it? It almost looks inedible! Nice idea with cranberries and OJ.