How I Make Incredible Braised Red Cabbage

On Christmas Day, my oven is always overloaded. I'm doing juggling with turkey, baked potatoes, cauliflower with cheese, filling, and the list goes on. That's why I always make this recipe for sautéed cabbage. It is made completely in the stove and uses only one pan. In addition, I will show an easy trick that I use to help keep its deep and beautiful color. So, let's go. The first step doesn't start with cabbage. I'm going to start with an apple. Apple and cabbage are a great combination. The flavors complement each other very well. I'm just going through a regular cheese grater, with peel and everything. When I get to the core, I turn 90 degrees and continue. This is a pink lady apple, but most varieties work well. I like to keep the apple like this because it gives me something to hold on to when I get to the end. Less chance of grating my fingers, which I like. Next, I'm going to put everything in a large pan with 125 ml of apple cider vinegar, 60 grams of brown sugar, a stick of small cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Next, I'm going to take everything to the stove over medium heat. I'm stirring the sugar so that it dissolves a little in the vinegar. I'm getting three different things at the same time with this mixture in the pan. First, the acidity of the vinegar is the key to keeping my cabbage with that intense purple color. Second, vinegar is amazing for extracting flavors. So, cinnamon and grated apple will infuse their flavors in the vinegar with a little help from the heat of the pan. And third, I'm balancing the acidity of the vinegar with the sugar. So, there's a lot going on here in this first stage of cooking. I like to cover and, when I see a little steam coming out of the pan, I lower the heat as much as possible. So, let it cook for 10 minutes while I prepare the cabbage. It's very simple. Now, if you have a clear cutting board like mine, which doesn't want to stain, I definitely recommend using something you don't like so much. Because sometimes it can be difficult to get the color out of the purple cabbage. So, there are several ways to prepare cabbage. I'm going to show you how I like to do this using a knife. And it only takes a few minutes if you follow the right steps. First, I remove the two outer layers. They are always a little crumpled and no one knows what they touched. So, I just swing the board until it's on the most stable side. With a long chef's knife, I cut in the center. I shake the knife if it gets stuck, and it will open up. I cut from north to south instead of east to west. So, the root of the cabbage is cut in half like this. So, I just remove the root of each half and cut these halves in half again to have quarters to work. So, I think the most important thing when cutting the cabbage for this dish is the consistency of the size so that everything cooks evenly. This is where the mandolins stand out. But this is perfectly possible using just one knife. So, I start with the knife at the top or at the tip of the root and gradually cut the cabbage. Taking my time to ensure that my slices are as uniform as possible. When I get to this part, it gets a little unstable. So, I just turn it over the new flat surface that was created and keep cutting until there's nothing left. The last cuts are always a little complicated. If you want to learn to use a knife, as I learned to use one in professional kitchens, I created an online course that divides the process into four simple steps. In one hour, I guarantee that you will be more confident using a knife in the kitchen. So far, I've only had great comments from my customers. So, if you're interested, there's a link in the description below. Right, in the end, you'll have a big pile of chopped cabbage. And if you're stubborn like me, then commit yourself totally to putting each little piece in the small bowl you chose. I'm amazed after cooking for 20 years and chopping cabbage much more than my weight. I still can't choose a large enough container. Anyway, I'm going carefully to the stove with this. The pan is boiling gently for 10 minutes or more. The sugar has completely dissolved and I can really smell cinnamon and apple. This looks good to me. So, along with the chopped cabbage, 100 ml of water and another pinch of salt. Cover and heat over medium-high heat. This will produce a little steam in the pan, which will help brown the cabbage and make it much easier to mix everything. After 5 minutes over medium-high heat, the cabbage has visibly wilted and looks much softer. Now I'm stirring everything to incorporate the flavors. Cover again, lower the heat and let it cook until it's ready. I come back every 10 minutes to stir everything and check if there is still liquid at the bottom. 9 out of 10 times yes. But if yours dries and you can't see any liquid at the bottom of the pan, add a little more water. This can happen if the lid of the pan doesn't fit well or if you left it on high heat for a long time. Anyway, the water is there just to create a little steam and help prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. So, add more as necessary. After 25 minutes of cooking, my braised purple cabbage is ready. I still like it a little bit bitter. If you like your softer, leave another 15 minutes in the stove to get ready. It got a very strong purple color. Finally, the cabbage is all covered with the apple and cinnamon syrup. This recipe meets all the requirements for your Christmas dinner. It's simple, tasty, fast and goes with most diets. Check out this video for another way to improve your Christmas cooking.