Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas Recipes: Red Cabbage with Prunes (perfect with roasted goose)



We've just finished doing all the dishes after yet another Christmas party. For the second year already, K. and I have invited our respective families over for a festive Christmas meal. And instead of the traditional black pudding and sauerkraut (we've already had three traditional Christmas meals this week), we served something different this year: roast goose (sourcing and roasting courtesy of restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn*) and braised red cabbage, alongside with some lovely Estonian potatoes, creamy goose giblet gravy, and pickled pumpkin salad. (And

The recipe is from the Christmas 1998 issue of BBC Good Food magazine, but I've fiddled with it a little. You cannot really see the prunes on the photo below, but they were an excellent addition to the braised cabbage, adding a much-needed sweetness.

Hope you've all had a lovely holiday so far.

Braised Red Cabbage with Prunes
(Hautatud punane kapsas ploomidega)
Serves 10



2 Tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, halved and finely sliced
1 kg red cabbage, cut into fine shreds
250 g prunes, halved
a cup of orange juice
2 Tbsp balsamic or sherry vinegar
1-2 tsp salt
coarsely ground black pepper

Heat the oil on a large saucepan. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften.
Add cabbage and saute, stirring every now and then, for 7 minutes.
Add the prunes, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper.
Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer on a low heat for about 30-60 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the cabbage is cooked to your liking (I like it with a bit of bite, but it's also lovely when cooked until soft).
If the cabbage looks too dry at the end of the cooking process, add some more orange juice or water.

* One day I'll reveal why the executive chef of the best gourmet restaurant in Estonia was roasting my Christmas goose this year :)

15 comments:

Chris said...

You always make the tastiest looking dishes! Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

Roasted goose? Wow! I want to read that story.

I agree with Chris. You do make the tastiest-looking dishes.

All the best,
Paz

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Can you believe, I've never had roasted goose! The red cabbage recipe looks lovely.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Now I'm so curious -- why was the restaurant cooking your goose?!

Anonymous said...

hmmm.. does K have something to do with the goose? Just a wild guess :)

-Mary

Suzana said...

It looks delicious and so festive! Happy Holidays and all the best for 2008!

Mariajaan said...

Please, do reveal it!!!!!!!!! We have prepared the gingerbread cookies and the children played a lot with the frosting...waiting for your next post as usual!

ThursdayNext said...

I love red cabbage; my favorite fruit combo with cabbage is the traditional apples, but this sounds just as delicious...and looks just as delicious!

Kärt said...

Ma kahtlustan, et siin on tegemist mingit sorti tähistamisega ... näiteks nagu kihlus või midagi sellist? Onju? ;)

ScienceMel said...

Can't wait for the story... sounds like a riot!

Anonymous said...

Just lovely! And guess what, I did red cabbage/onion for Christmas Eve too, though not with orange/prune, instead with apple/clove. I'm so glad to have another version for my 'to try' list! Happy New Year, Pille! One of the my great joys of blogging has been coming to know you, especially since you've been back in Estonia and have been writing about so many traditional foods. I'm always so pleased to see a new post, wondering, What shall it be, this time?

Pille said...

Tanna – well, I don’t have roasted goose too often either. This year’s goose was a definite improvement on last year’s goose.. And the red cabbage dish IS lovely, believe me!

Paz, Lydia & ScienceMel – you’ll have to wait for the whole story :)

Mary – nope. Although to be really fair to K, then he did introduce me to that restaurant, so the goose story is related to him indeed ;)

MariaJaan – I’m so glad you liked the gingerbread cookies! Now your Spanic-Estonian-Columbian kids were engaging in a very Estonian Christmas-time activity :)

ThursdayNext – I must try the red cabbage and apple combination!

Kärt – kahjuks mitte.. (K, vihjatakse:) Aga no nüüd Sa juba tead..

Alanna – red cabbage, apple and clove? Sounds really festive! And the feelings about blogging and blog friends – I’m with you on that one! It’s been a real pleasure getting to know you.

Chris, Suzana – thank you!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Actually i am vegetarian but my most of the my friends are non-vegetarian.I know all the non veg dishes.And your recipes new for me.

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Jan Van Dvivenvoorde said...

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries. ~W.J. Cameron