Kenwood Christmas Menu: “All the Trimmings” Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Kenwood Christmas Menu: All the Trimmings ~ Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Kenwood Christmas Menu:

“All the Trimmings”

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Day Three on the Advent Calendar:

3rd December:

Silver Nutmeg Grater

I can’t believe it is already the 3rd of December, and week three of the Kenwood Christmas Menu; this exciting challenge sees myself and four other food bloggers, Beth, Sian, Becs and Eliza, bake and cook a special Christmas menu with the aid of our new Titanium Chefs. Today is all about “The Trimmings”, that wonderful word that sums up sage infused stuffing, golden bacon rolls, juicy chipolata sausages, crunchy golden roast potatoes, wine-laden gravy, creamy bread sauce and my wonderful family recipe for Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples.

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

I make this red cabbage dish EVERY year, and if I had a £1 for every time someone asked me for the recipe, I would be a very rich lady by now! It is a time-consuming recipe, as acres of red cabbage, onions and apples have to be shredded and sliced, but I LOVE setting aside the time to make it.

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples – The red cabbage was a breeze to shred in the food processor on my Kenwood Titanium Chef

It usually takes me ages to shred the cabbage and I am left with purple fingers as red cabbage is a great natural dye! However, this year I shredded my cabbage (as well as slicing my onions and apples) in the food processor attachment that sits on top of my Kenwood Titanium Chef, and it was an absolute breeze, and cut my time back by at least three-quarters. I was amazed at how quickly it shredded the cabbage, it was easy, fuss-free and not as messy as it usually is. All I had to do was to “decant” the shredded cabbage from the food processor to a bowl now and then, as not to clog up the container, and it took about 15 minutes to shred instead of the usual half an hour or so and the machine was so quiet too.

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Once the red cabbage, apples and onion are shredded and sliced, it’s a simple and rather therapeutic job of layering them all up in a casserole dish (or a slow cooker) adding the Christmas spices and garlic as you go; the last layer should be a layer of red cabbage, and you then dot the top with butter, and add the red wine vinegar, et voila, it’s all ready to cook.

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples

This delicious festive recipe with its  fragrant spices, uses apples or pears; whilst this is happily cooking away, the spicy smell pervades the kitchen & indeed the rest of the house and heralds the start of my festive baking and freezing season – who needs expensive pot-pourri! Not only is this dish delectable to eat alongside turkey, pork, beef and hams in particular – but the colour is just gorgeous, a rich jewelled ruby-red. This cabbage can be kept warm for long periods, reheated and also freezes very well, making it a very well-behaved recipe.

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

I think it is a perfect candidate for week three and “The Trimmings” part of my Kenwood Christmas Menu. I hope you enjoy this recipe, and PLEASE do let me know if you make this, it is my MOST requested vegetable accompaniment recipe, and indeed I am making a batch to feed 26 people in two weeks time for a friend’s Christmas party! I DID have a second recipe to share with you today, for Mini Muffin Dauphinoise Potatoes, but my camera failed (the batteries ran out at a crucial time and my spare was not charged!), but, I WILL be back later today or tomorrow with the recipe for them, as I made a dozen, and so I can photograph the ones we didn’t eat yesterday! I can share a “just baked shot” to get you interested however…….

Mini Muffin Dauphinoise Potatoes,

…….so do pop back later for the recipe for these little beauties, that, can also me made in advance and can be frozen  ready to cook from, frozen on the big day. I am off to make bread now as well as make some VERY special treats for Christmas, which, I will be sharing with you later this week. Have a wonderful week and don’t forget to open your Advent calendars! Karen

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples

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Serves	8 to 10 servings
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	2 hours, 30 minutes
Total time	3 hours
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Christmas, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A delicious festive recipe using red cabbage, fragrant spices & apples or pears; whilst this is happily cooking away, the spicy smell pervades the kitchen & indeed the rest of the house and heralds the start of my festive baking and freezing season - who needs expensive pot-pourris! Not only is this dish delectable to eat alongside turkey, pork, beef and hams in particular - but the colour is just gorgeous, a rich jewelled ruby red. This cabbage can be kept warm for long periods, reheated and also freezes very well, making it a very well behaved recipe.

Ingredients

• 900g to 1 kilo red cabbage, shredded finely (I used my Kenwood Food Processor)
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons soft brown sugar
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled & finely minced
• 4 large apples or 4 large pears, NOT peeled, finely diced
• 4 large onions, peeled & finely diced (I used my Kenwood Food Processor)
• 25g butter

Note

A delicious festive recipe using red cabbage, fragrant spices & apples or pears; whilst this is happily cooking away, the spicy smell pervades the kitchen & indeed the rest of the house and heralds the start of my festive baking and freezing season - who needs expensive pot-pourri! Not only is this dish delectable to eat alongside turkey, pork, beef and hams in particular - but the colour is just gorgeous, a rich jewelled ruby red. This cabbage can be kept warm for long periods, reheated and also freezes very well, making it a very well behaved recipe.

Directions

Step 1	Discard outer leaves of the red cabbage and cut into quarters. Cut out the central woody root and then shred the quarters very finely. Place in a bowl. Cut the apples or pears into quarters, core them & then slice into fine dice and set aside in another bowl. (I used my wonderful Kenwood Titanium Chef for the shredding, cutting back time by about three-quarters.)
Step 2	Place peeled and diced onions into another bowl & make sure all the other ingredients are measured and to hand.
Step 3	If cooking in a conventional Dutch oven or Le Creuset type casserole dish, turn oven on to 180C/ 360F/Gas 4. This can be cooked on the top of the stove too.
Step 4	For cooking in a slow cooker - take the inner crock out and start layering the ingredients: Red cabbage, then salt & pepper; Apples or pears, onions & garlic, then the spices & brown sugar;keep layering this way until everything has been used up. Layer the same way for conventional cooking too, as in step 3.
Step 5	(If you would like it slightly spicier, add a little more spices, but no more than 1 teaspoon per spice, as it will be too spiced & will detract from the apple/pear & red cabbage flavours)
Step 6	Dot the top of the red cabbage with the butter and pour over the red wine vinegar.
Step 7	Season once more with salt & pepper and cook for 6 to 12 hours on High in the slow cooker, until everything has broken down, is soft and it is a rich red colour.
Step 8	For conventional cooking - cook for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours in pre-heated oven. It can be cooked on the stove top too; takes about 2 - 3 hours on a low heat, just a slow simmer.
Step 9	Pears can be used as well, and I sometimes add a handful of cranberries for a really festive touch!

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

Spiced Red Cabbage with Apples Recipe

~ Sponsored Post ~

(I received a Kenwood Titanium Chef in order to create recipes as part of the Kenwood Christmas Menu Blogger Challenge)

Below is a linky to the other Kenwood Christmas Menu Chefs!