This red cabbage recipe is full of Christmas flavours and tastes super fab with the Christmas roast. It is my favourite combo of sweet and sour with orange, apple, spices and port, which work really well together. It doesn’t have to just be for Christmas or thanksgiving, but you can eat it all year round. It’s also delicious with sausage and mash or baked potatoes and perfect with ham. Everyone I know who has cooked this really loves it as much as me. Its origins are loosely based on a Danish recipe and traditionally in Denmark it is served with rich meats, such as duck and pork. I spent many a Christmas in Denmark or with Danes as a child so this tastes very comforting to me and no one does Christmas better than the Danes. It is also fab with the Boxing Day leftovers the next day and its flavour improves with age.

Recipe

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
1 small red cabbage, shredded
1 apple, grated
1 chopped onion
1 orange, zest and juice
3 cloves
150ml Port
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
A handful of sultanas
2 tablespoons butter (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

How:

Put all the ingredients in a largish heavy bottomed pot and bring to the boil.
Simmer slowly with the lid on for 90 minutes. Then serve.

Lastly… this can be cooked a day in advance of the main Christmas or Thanksgiving meal then reheated on the day.  Alternatively, you can make it and freeze it till needed. It freezes really well and this can free your workload up on the day of the feast. I always have a container of it in my freezer in case the mood strikes and I need a bit of sweet and sour cabbage action. It’s unbelievably delicious and pretty healthy too.

I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl