Red 2

Carrying on from the morning after the night before there was still some of the Red Cabbage dish left. I thought it would be a different twist on the recipe to turn it into a Red Cabbage Hash. The way I did this was by quartering a medium-sized red potato, after first peeling it of course, and frying it on a medium heat turning the potato pieces frequently.

After twenty minutes the potatoes were passed al dente I added them to the Red Cabbage, which remained in the Le Cresceut from the day before, with the yolk and white of an egg. I turned up the heat to medium on the hob and stirred in the potato pieces and the yolk and white for around ten minutes until I was sure the egg was cooked properly prior to serving.

There is something about pre-cooked red cabbage that's been allowed the night to ferment in alcohol that gives it an extra edge to its taste. This dish was no exception to this rule and with the fried potato and egg it felt like a very rich brunch with a twist.

Purple Haze- freshly cooked with the steam still coming off the top of it.

Red Pole

Although the cons of the winter months are the shorter days, sometimes dangerous weather and lower temperatures the trade off is that winter ingredients give you the excuse to make lots of one pot recipes and warming soups. Often these recipes involve the use of plenty of alcohol, which again is a plus.

On the final Saturday evening of November 2016 I was on a high having coming off a couple of pre-booked days from work where I had caught up with numerous important people in my life both old and new. Not only that but the winter sun had shone brightly on me during some excellent country walks.

With the cleansing and pure electronica of Tangerine Dream's 1974 masterpiece Phaedra flowing through the speakers I set about making a red cabbage dish that is Polish in origin and it contains the following ingredients:

1 Red Cabbage.
1 Red Onion.
2 Sprigs of Rosemary.
1 Tablespoon of White Pepper.
2 Tablespoons of Chilli Flakes.
Quarter of a pint of Red Wine.
2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar.
Quarter of a pint of Chicken Stock.
Quarter of a pint of Water

The first job was to tail the Red Cabbage and remove the outer leaves. Next I topped and tailed the Red Onion and skinned it before finely dicing it. The Red Cabbage was also sliced up finely. I then poured some Sunflower Oil into the bottom of the Le Cresceut Dish and sweated the Onion, Cabbage, Rosemary, White Pepper, Red Wine Vinegar and Chilli Flakes with the Le Cresceut's lid on the dish on a medium heat for ten minutes.

I then added the Red Wine Vineger and the Red Wine and simmered the food on a medium heat with the lid on for another twenty minutes until the Red Wine and the Red Wine Vinegar had almost been absorbed. At this point I added the Chicken Stock and after another fifteen minutes of simmering with the lid on this too had almost been absorbed.

Then I added the water to the Le Cresceut and after another ten minutes of steady simmering, which meant about an hour and five minutes' simmering and sweating in total, the stewed Red Cabbage was ready to serve. This I did with some fried Vegetarian Sausages and glazed Carrots.

The Red Cabbage was rich and flavoursome with a tint of sourness, due to the Red Wine Vinegar, but not so sour that it undermined the rich and revitalising flavour. In fact there was so much of the dish prepared that I kept half back for a very exotic cooked breakfast that you'll hear all about in the next edition of this blog...

Deep Purple- perfect as part of a main meal with Glazed Carrots and Vegetarian Sausages