German red cabbage video

While Chef Brett Hoffman's recipe for German red cabbage looks interesting, I'm partial to my family version. Red cabbage is know as blaukraut, or blue cabbage, in parts of Germany, the birth country of my great grandmother Ella.

I limit my seasonings to whole cloves, salt and pepper. The chef adds bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. The key to Karoly red cabbage has to be the bacon, along with quality apple cider vinegar. I rely on the apples and apple juice to impart a bit of sweetness into the cabbage.



Chef Hoffmann's Red cabbage

1 or 2 heads of purple cabbage, quartered and chopped
1 large yellow onion chopped
2-3 Washington apples thinly sliced (applesauce is used in the video)
2 mandarin or navel oranges peeled
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup bacon fat
1-2 cups white wine vinegar
1 cup water
Sugar
1/4 cup red wine

Combine all ingredients except cabbage in a pot and cook down. Add ¾ cup bacon fat and cabbage to the pot with 1- 2 cups white wine vinegar and 1 cup water. Cook cabbage until tender but firm and then add sugar to taste and ¼ cup red wine.

Recipe credit: ABC15 Arizona

Chef Hoffmann's restaurant, Haus Murphy's (Glendale, Ariz.) website