Baked festive red cabbage and cranberries

Half a red cabbage
2 eating apples cored and cubed
1 red onion
100 gms of fresh cranberries
250 mls turkey stock (use chicken or vegetable stock if no turkey stock unavailable)
small glass of mulled wine optional can be replaced with read wine or just leave it out
¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds
Bunch of fresh thyme

Oven 180 C.

Thinly slice the red cabbage, chop the onion and cube the apple. Then layer it into the dish add the stock, herbs and put it into the oven. The fennel adds a slightly different flavour at this time of year which I think works very well with the dish and turkey.

If you are cooking a turkey put it in the same oven 30 minutes before the bird is schedule to be finished cooking. If there is no room in the oven this dish can also be simmered slowly in a pot on top of the cooker hob.
Check 10 minutes to end of cooking and stir – sometimes when I make this I include 2 cloves of crushed garlic at this stage but its an extra the dish does not really need. I include it at this cooking point the flavour is fresher.

My Cookmakebake festive baked red cabbage  and cranberries dish reheats really well the next day which means you can cook it a day ahead or its a great one for left overs. Plus yeah I like it in a turkey sandwich too!

Its very easy to make this a vegetarian option by not using turkey stock.

Note: There is no fat or oil used in the recipe, it does n’t need it.

The apples in this recipe were from the bottom of the fruit bowl, a great way to use em up! But I think apples and red cabbage are a match made for each other. Don’t peel the apples the extra dietary fibre is useful in the diet at this time of year.  

a fresh approach to salad

a different sort of vegetable salad side dish

a small red onion

1  a yellow pepper

3 large juicy plump tomatoes

3 stalks of celery

1 garlic clove

Juice of half a lemon

¼ teaspoon of hot mustard

a glug of Irish rapeseed oil (okay use Olive oil if you need to)

1 tablespoon Capers (optional)

1 green chilli (optional)

Salt

Pepper

A pinch of hot paprika

Take the bowl you are going to serve the salad, chop the garlic clove in half and run it around the bowl, it adds a hint of garlic and is a wonderful technique to add an extra layer of flavour.
Chop the onion finely and place it in the bowl season it with salt and pepper, mix and add the lemon juice.  this wilts the onion slightly. Add the mustard and mix.
Chop the yellow pepper and celery finely add to bowl.
Keep the tomatoes  large add to bowl. Pour the glug of rapeseed oil over the salad – sparingly it does not need much.

Chop the chilly finely add to bowl and use as much as you want. I liked this salad with a kick.

Add the capers to bowl. If you are using salted ones wash them and dry them off on kitchen paper.

Mix and leave to sit. Sprinkle the paprika over it before you bring it to the table and toss nce again before serving.

I made this to accompany crab claws and some left over monkfish that was served cold. I had a little mature cheddar on the side too. It was delicious and think it would go great with BBQ meat, roast chicken and steak too.

I suppose it is an unconventional way to make a salad dressing making it in the bowl as you go along. But it works and I will make this again.

Hope you try it, if you do let me know what you like about it.

Happy making!