Tomorrow is our annual holiday potluck at Bulls Head Friends Meeting, so instead of making soup, I'm making my contribution to the potluck.
Our potlucks tend to be rather heavy on desserts and carbs and rather light on protein and vegetables, so I'm making a healthy veggie dish, Red Cabbage.
The cabbage I have is a big purple-red one and is one of the long-storing vegetables from my last CSA share this year. This is a simple, easy, and cheap dish to make.
I started by slicing a large onion into julienne strips, the I sauted the onion in a big of olive oil in my wok until it was a lovely golden brown and smelled like the good part of the county fair. While the onions were browning, I cut my red cabbage up into thin strips. My cabbage was bigger than my head, so I only used about 2/3's of it. The rest I'll save for something else. When the onions were caramelized, I put the cabbage into the wok and stir-fried them together. The big challenge was getting all that cabbage to stay in the pan - I ended up getting another paddle and gently tossing the veg with both hands. When it was still crunchy, but warmed through, I added 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, a good squirt of soy sauce, and a dash of liquid smoke. I reduced the heat, covered the wok, and let it simmer/steam for about 10 minutes. When the cabbage was tender and crisp at the same time, I stirred in about 2 Tbs of sugar, turned off the heat and let it sit uncovered for about 5 minutes.
The cabbage will absorb the taste of the vinegar and sugar while it waits in the fridge until I take it to the potluck tomorrow. Right before we eat, I'll warm it up just enough to take the chill off before I put it on the table.
A memory of transition from childhood to independence: After 16 Christmases of turkey and all the trimmings, multicoloured lights on the tree and Christmas morning church (life as usual in the UK) I took a ferry and train alone to Hameln in Germany and arrived early on Christmas Eve at my penfriend's home. It was so different: white lights on trees, church on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day goose with red cabbage and baked apples cored and stuffed with raisins and brown sugar. So almost every Christmas since then I have made the same meal. Usually my red cabbage has apple in it. This year I followed Vonn's recipe and substituted soy sauce and liquid smoke. Delicious. Less fruity, more "meaty" taste. Could be a meal by itself.
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