Braised Red Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 900g/2lbs red cabbage
• 2 red onions, large
• 2 sharp cooking apples
• 2 carrots
• 1 celery stalk
• 3 rashers streaky bacon
• 25g/1oz butter (or oil)
• 1 glass red wine
• 1 glass orange juice
• ¼ pint vegetable stock
• 1½ tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 tbs red currant jelly
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of dried tarragon
• 2 cloves, ground
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg
• ground black pepper

Method:

1. Separate the cabbage leaves, remove tough midribs, wash and shred.
2. Peel and thinly slice the onions.
3. Derind the bacon and cut into small pieces.
4. Peel the carrots and slice.
5. Wash, trim celery stalk and cut into matchstick-size pieces.
6. Heat the butter in an ovenproof dish and fry the onions and bacon gently. Dish must be large enough to take the shredded cabbage.
7. Add the celery when the bacon begins to colour and continue frying gently until slightly softened. Stir frequently.
8. Add spices, fry for 1-2 minutes.
9. Add the carrots and cabbage, stir.
10. Peel and core the apples. Slice thinly, add to the vegetables.
11. Add wine, wine vinegar, jelly, orange juice, stock, tarragon and bay leaf. Bring liquid to boiling point.
12. Transfer the covered dish to a preheated oven (Mark 2/150°C/300°F) for approximately 3 hours.

Note: Keep an eye on the liquid level of the dish during cooking to ensure that it doesn't dry out. Add more liquid if necessary but don't swamp it - the vegetables should not be watery at the end of cooking.