[Vegan Braised Red Cabbage with Red Wine and Chestnuts]I have been trying to cook a couple of recipes a week but I've not really been succeeding have I?...
I did find a nice red organic cabbage at the Co-op in Grand Forks and thought I'd better hurry up and use it...
...so...begin by slicing up some carrots and onions...
...Julia says to slice the cabbage in 1/2 inch slices...
Julia doesn't specifically say what to do about the core...
...but I cut mine out...
...cook the carrots and onions in butter (Earth Balance) slowly without browning with the 'lardons' - I used the tofu bacon recipe
here for the lardons...
...then you add the red cabbage...
...and stir to coat with the fat and vegetables...
...then you cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes...
...then you add some tart apples - Julia says that for the cabbage to retain its colour it must be cooked with something acidic...
...some mashed garlic, bay leaf and cloves (I put those in my trusty tea-ball)...
...some red wine...
...some beef stock - I used the brown stock that my
Mom sent me...
...I put it all in my casserole...
...and baked it for (Oh my goodness) 3 1/2 hours...which seemed like an egregious amount of time...
...then you're supposed to add chestnuts, but I didn't have any nor any way of acquiring any (next time I'm in GF I'll get some as Julia seems to like them)...my first thought was to substitute cashews as they seem creamy and soft...but I searched the internet and found that most people substitute pecans when they don't have chestnuts...and I suppose they must be right for the taste would be a little bit more similar...so I subbed pecans for the chestnuts...
...and believe it or not - it then cooks for another 1 1/2 hours - amazing...
...in the end - what we got was an amazingly complex sweet/savory and surprisingly not mushy side dish...
...we served it with some simple baked tofu and it was delicious...you could also really taste the cloves very sweet...
...I'll try and make this again around Christmastime when chestnuts are available...then I probably won't be able to find the red cabbage...
Substitutions: Earth Balance for Butter
Tofu Bacon for the lardons
Recipe here:
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp.496-498
