Comfort Food

H has to work on Thanksgiving morning so we’re going out this year. My expectations aren’t super high on the food. I’m focusing on the fact that I don’t have to cook or clean up afterwards.


Monday night we had a home cooked meal that ended up making us feel as full as one does on Thanksgiving and harkened back to our days in Germany. H made pork schnitzel and the spaetzle. I made the braised cabbage. This braised cabbage recipe isn’t as good as H's but his manages to make a vegetable very unhealthy with lots of bacon and butter so I’m including the recipe here that I used which comes from Lydie Marshall’s book, Slow-cooked Comfort. If you make it, do make it a day ahead as she suggests. Enjoy!

Red Cabbage Braised in Balsamic Vinegar

1 ½ pound head of red cabbage

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups thinly sliced red onions

2 Golden Delicious apples about 1 pound, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (3 cups)

½ cup golden raisins or currants (I omitted this)

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Discard the tough outer cabbage leaves; cut out and discard the core. Split the cabbage into six wedges and shred very thin; you should have about 16 cups.

Heat the butter and oil in a 7 ¼-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onions and add 2 tablespoons water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the onions are wilted.

Add the cabbage, apples, and raisins to the onions and stir. Add the vinegar; sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper; and stir.

Cover and simmer slowly for 2 ½ hours, checking the cabbage and first adding ½ cup water after 1 hour of cooking, then again every half hour.

Let stand at least 12 hours to develop flavor before reheating.