Preparing red cabbage

[Binky Profile]

We have a small red cabbage lurking in the fridge and OH has decided it must be pickled. He has fond memories of cheese, crackers, cold meat and red cabbage served by his mother on Sunday afternoons.

The problem is there seems to be two ways of pickling cabbage:

1) boiling shredded cabbage in a saucepan with vinegar/wine/spices and

2) layering raw shredded cabbage in kilner jars and pouring the hot vinegar mix over.

The last one sounds best to me as you will end up with a crunchier result. Anyone have any strong views on this?

[Joanbunting Profile]

Very much so Binky.
I have made pickled red cabbage for Christmas for as long as I can remember.
I brine the cabbages then drain after 24 hours. Rinse and pack into jars, layering with brined sliced onion. when the jars are filled top with cold spiced vinegar. Keep for a couple of weeks but use within a couple of months, before it looses it's crunch.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

Pickled red cabbage is great with lamb, beef or pork casseroles/hotpots as well, but keep the casserole etc. the simpler the better

[Joanbunting Profile]

I'm going to do braised red cabbage with apples and juniper berries with the partridge tomorrow night.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Mum used a method similar to Joan’s
Dad grew a whole row of red cabbage one year, we were giving them away.

I did slow braised red cabbage for Christmas, I use Delia’s method but vary the spices. The rules seem to be to use more onion but less liquid and a lower heat than you first think of, then it doesn’t go mushy

[Badger's Mate Profile]

My mum used to pickle onions and red cabbage the same way. No brine, no boiling, just pack the jar with onions or cabbage, add pickling spice and top up with malt vinegar to cover the veg. I used to bite on the odd pickled coriander seed or chilli concealed within the wrinkly cabbage. Both onions and red cabbage were good with cheese on toast.

I don't do either very often but usually heat the vinegar with the spices and pour over the veg whilst hot. My childhood experience would tend to suggest that it's not strictly necessary.

[Suffs Profile]

I always slice and layer the cabbage with cooking salt overnight before rinsing draining and leaving to dry off for a bit before bottling with cooled spiced cider vinegar (sometimes I add honey when I’m spicing the vinegar).

Using the salt first extracts some of the moisture from the cabbage so that it absorbs the vinegar and doesn’t dilute it ... resulting in a better flavour and the cabbage keeps fresh and crisp for longer in the jar.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

There's no doubt that mum's pickled onions became softer with time, but that was considered an asset. Commercial ones used to be made with spirit vinegar, always seemed too sharp and salty to me. I used to pickle home grown shallots, then (in the wilderness years without a plot) bought Garner's, now tend to buy Borettane onions because Mrs B likes them. Had some HM pickled onions at a friend's over Christmas, might make a batch yet.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Don’t they put a bit of calcium chloride into commercial pickles to keep them firm and crisp?

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Yes, 'firming agent' I think they call it. I've noticed it particularly on jars of wallies but presumably other pickles get the same treatment too.

[Suffs Profile]

I’ve just sliced and salted a medium red cabbage that was lurking in the fridge ... two bottles of cider vinegar have been simmered for five minutes with half a cup of dark muscavafo sugar, a scant half handful of allspice berries, ditto black peppercorns, a frozen cloves, a dried chilli, three star anise and a sliced orange. They’ll steep until tomorrow and then the cabbage will be rinsed drained and left on an old teatowel until more or less dry. I’ll pack them into jars and pour the spiced vinegar over ... I may well include the orange slices and the spices in with the cabbage. It’ll look attractive and add to the flavour.
It’ll be perfect to have with haggis and bashed neeps on Burns’ Night
Any surplus spiced vinegar will be bottled again and kept for the next batch ... or to dress sliced beetroot.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

We had some commercially made picked red cabbage with our Venison and Boddingtons bitter casserole last night. We also had bacon scones and some boiled potatoes with it - very good it was too.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

I've got the pickling bug again. A few weeks ago I made a relatively small amount of cucumber and dill pickle, which got eaten very quickly. Last week I made some of Mr Strictly's favourite carrot chutney as we were getting low. I also made a mixed veg pickle rather like this one, but without the fresh chilli (I just used dried flakes in the vinegar):

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/giardiniera/

I had some for the first time today and it is addictive as well as looking so pretty!

[Alexandria Profile]

Across the Iberian Peninsula, Red Cabbage ( Col Lombarda / Repollo Morada) is
prepared braised (like Joan) and served during the Christmas Holiday Season,
not for Christmas Eve or the 25th.

The main ingredients employed are: Apples called Reineta and in English, a Pippin Apple, grown
in Bierzo, León and is an E.U. Designation of Origin for this apple, which are a Golden Brown
not shiny and wider than they are tall, and are a grand
baking apple, Brown sugar, vegetable stock,
wine, cider vinegar, salt and spices of choice ..

We also use red cabbage in tri color salads, with
rocket, radicchio, lloso ( a curly dark Green lettuce variety with
deep magenta curly edges).

[WWordsworth Profile]

I really dislike cooked red cabbage, especially when it's spiced but I love it pickled.
When I went home for the weekend from college Mum always did hotpot and pickled cabbage.

[Joanbunting Profile]

I love both and I also use red cabbage in a mixed slaw that's the only way we eat it in summer, Pickeled to me seems Christmas and braised with a few spices, apple and onion is for game dishes.