SWEET ‘n’ TART Braised Red Cabbage with Apple and Raisins (AIP)

Food Sides & Sauces November 17, 2015

“An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it makes a better soup.”
― H.L. Mencken, “A Book of Burlesques”

I have a German Mum.

Well – to be fair, she calls herself a Kiwi now, but she grew up in Germany. So her cooking traditions tend towards the European.

That means when you cook cabbage, you do it long and slow. None of this lightly sautéed cabbage palaver for her. Nope.

I vividly remember Mum’s braised red cabbage from when I was growing up. And Rotkohl is such an über German thing to cook that I could hardly break with my heritage and lightly sauté it, could I?

And apparently – it must have cloves. In fact, Mum says it should have sugar, too…

But here’s where my Mum and I part ways

Because I’ve broken with tradition just a teeny bit. While I’ve added a little sugar, I’ve also thrown in a few raisins. I think their sweetness offsets the tartness of the vinegar nicely.

I do have to acknowledge that Mum is right. Long, slow cooking is definitely the way to go. It really intensifies the flavour.

We served our braised cabbage with LM’s roasted rack of pork. I think it may just be his ‘signature dish’ and I love it. The flavours of the pork work well with the cabbage, and we had some lovely roasted kumara (sweet potato), too.

Here’s my take on AIP-friendly SWEET ‘n’ TART Braised Red Cabbage served with Apple and Raisins…

SWEET 'n' TART Braised Red Cabbage with Apple and Raisins

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 15 mins

This recipe is AIP-friendly

Author: Joanna Frankham

Recipe type: Sides & Sauces

Serves: 6

Ingredients

½ red cabbage (approximately 1 kilo)
1 large granny smith apple
3 Tablespoons duck fat
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
3 Tablespoons raisins
1 - 2 bayleaves
salt

Method

First, prepare your cabbage and apple. Remove the outer leaves of your red cabbage and slice finely. I use the shredding attachment on my food processor. Peel, core and dice your Granny Smith.
Peel and finely dice your onion. Melt the duck fat into a dutch oven (I used my le Creuset) over a medium heat. Sweat the onions for about 10 minutes, until translucent.
Add your cabbage and cook for a further 5 minutes.
While your cabbage is cooking down, peel and mince your garlic. Add your garlic, diced apple, apple cider vinegar, ground cloves, coconut sugar, raisins and bay leaves to the cabbage mix. Season generously and bring to the boil, before turning down to a simmer. Add the lid and walk away.
Leave the cabbage to cook slowly on a low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally.
Check for seasoning before serving.

E N J O Y !

This recipe features in the Phoenix Helix Recipe Roundtable

Joanna Frankham / About Author

Joanna Frankham helps you to make lasting diet and lifestyle choices that serve you. Jo is your AIP Mentor and Certified Health Coach who uses tools, rituals and group programs (like her foundational AIP Reset group program) to help you break down the AIP framework into manageable pieces; all to enable you to implement positive changes to improve your health. Jo’s special sauce is her ability to facilitate bringing AIPers together in a way that is informed, inclusive and encouraging. Chronic illness doesn’t have to be isolating.

Comments (9)

cteachr

November 17, 2015 at 9:20 am

My husband is Danish so we make red cabbage. The recipe is simple: cabbage, apple and a can of cranberry sauce, a bit of water. Cook it down slowly and enjoy with any pork dish.

I’ll have to try your version too for variety.