Put the paprika, cayenne, tomatoes, caraway seeds, water or stock and the remaining onion in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the remaining sauerkraut and then pour the mixture over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish, place in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake for 1 hour.
Mix the cornflour and soured cream together. Pour the mixture over the cabbage rolls and bake for 10 more minutes.
We regularly cook this basic recipe in the Field Kitchen, where we like to serve it with roast pork and game. Raw grated beetroot can be added, along with a little orange juice and honey, and cooked for a further 15 minutes.
Serves 6
1 red cabbage, finely shredded
2 dessert apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
50g butter
11/2 tablespoons dark soft brown sugar
11/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put all the ingredients in a large, heavy-based pan and place over a high heat, stirring until well combined. When the mixture is simmering, turn the heat down low, cover the pan and leave the cabbage to cook in its own juices for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more sugar or vinegar if required.
Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Blue Cheese
This is based on a salad in The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown (Bantam Books, 1987). They used goat’s cheese but we changed it slightly to work with our autumn menu.
Serves 8
75g walnut pieces
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 crisp red apples
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
21/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 small red cabbage, shredded
100g blue cheese, crumbled (we use Devon Blue)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped marjoram
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toss the walnuts with the walnut oil and some black pepper. Spread them out on a baking tray and toast in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 5–7 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Core the apples and cut into small pieces. Put the garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a frying pan and sauté over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the red onion and cook for 30 seconds, then add the cabbage and cook for a couple of minutes, until it begins to turn from red to pink. Season with salt and pepper. Finally add the cheese, apples, herbs and toasted walnuts. Toss well and serve.
Red Cabbage and Beetroot Confit
This dish is designed to go with roast duck. It comes from Bill Gunn, who owns Bistro Tatau in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Jane worked there for a while, helping to develop dishes in a country used to taro, lamb flaps and turkey tails. So if you are ever lucky enough to be in Apia, pop in.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon butter
1 large red onion, finely sliced
100ml red wine vinegar
100g light soft brown sugar
150g cranberry sauce, cranberry jelly or dark plum jam
1/2 small red cabbage, finely shredded
3 medium beetroot, peeled and cut into matchsticks on a mandolin, or grated
a splash of balsamic vinegar
celery salt and freshly ground black pepper
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan, add the onion and sweat gently until soft but not coloured. Add the red wine vinegar, sugar and cranberry sauce and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the cabbage and beetroot, stir well, then cover and cook very gently for 30–40 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the liquid has reduced to a sticky sauce. Adjust the seasoning with balsamic vinegar, celery salt and pepper.
Easy ideas for cabbage
♦ Melt some butter in a pan, sprinkle in some caraway seeds and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in finely shredded white or green cabbage, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes or until soft. Chopped cooked bacon can be stirred in to keep meat eaters happy.
♦ To make an anchovy coleslaw, mix chopped anchovy fillets, crushed garlic and rosemary with a basic oil and vinegar dressing, then toss with finely sliced Hispi or white cabbage.
♦ Substitute cabbage for Brussels sprouts in Bubble and Squeak Soup (see Bubble and Squeak Soup with Wensleydale Cheese).
♦ Substitute cabbage (ideally Savoy or similar) for kale in Kale, Chorizo and Potato Hash (see Kale, Chorizo and Potato Hash).
♦ Make the classic Irish dish, colcannon (see Perfect Mash variations, Perfect Mash).
♦ A dish from Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar: mix very finely shredded Savoy cabbage with slivers of Parmesan and a drizzle of good aged balsamic vinegar. Serve with slices of prosciutto.
♦ Brown some partridges (or could be pigeons or pheasant) well in a little oil in a heavy casserole, add a few rashers of streaky bacon, a chopped cabbage (January King is good), a splash of red wine and enough chicken stock to come half way up the cabbage. Cover the partridge with the cabbage, then bring to a simmer, season, and cover the pan. Put in an oven preheated to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 and bake for about 30 minutes, until the partridges are cooked through.
♦ To make a red cabbage slaw, mix shredded red cabbage, grated carrot and finely chopped red onion with sliced pickled jalapeño chillies, mayonnaise and chives.
The best-tasting carrots I ever grew were an old-fashioned, non-hybrid variety called Autumn King. We grew them on top of a hill to avoid carrot root fly, scraping what little soil there was into ridges and sowing the seed on top. They grew slowly and steadily without irrigation or fertiliser until they hit the bed rock and then pushed themselves out of the ground, so that by November they stood several inches proud of the soil. Some of the carrots were over a foot long and weighed several pounds. They were harvested by hand and we had to stand some upright in the sacks because they were too long to lie crossways. It is interesting that when carrots are grown for processing, where flavour rather