• Home
  • Travel UK
  • Travel Europe
    • Belgium
    • Croatia
    • Czech Republic
    • First Visit
      • Bulgaria
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Slovenia
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Italy
      • Sicily
    • Ireland
    • Portugal
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Travel General
    • Caribbean Travel
      • Antigua
      • Barbados
      • Grenada
      • St Lucia
    • Ecuador
    • Egypt
    • India
    • Qatar
    • Mexico
    • Oman
    • Rodrigues and Mauritius
    • Sri Lanka
    • USA
  • Recipes
    • Soups
    • Lunch
    • starter
    • Mains
    • side dish
    • Desserts
    • Cocktails and Drinks
    • Cakes and Sweets
    • 5:2 Diet Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Fish and Shellfish
    • Poultry
    • Meat
    • Balcony Gardening
  • Restaurants
    • Chelsea
    • Kings Cross
    • Knightsbridge
    • Marylebone
    • Mayfair
    • Oxford Circus
    • Soho
    • South London
    • North London
    • Victoria and Pimlico
    • West London
    • Out of London
  • Events
    • London Life
      • Foodie London
      • Visiting London – Five Must Do Sights
      • Visiting London – London Travel Tips
      • Miscellaneous
  • Giveaway
  • February 23, 2019

London Unattached - London Lifestyle Blog

Luxury London Lifestyle Blog for the over 40s with food, travel, diet and restaurant reviews - London Unattached

Let’s Make Christmas EASY and Spiced Red Cabbage Recipe

December 25, 2012 by Fiona Maclean 6 Comments

Tweet
Pin
Share
Flip
Yum
Share

Planning for Christmas Day:

Making  Christmas Lunch easy for me is all about getting a sense of realism.  I love celebratory meals and all the tradition of Christmas.  But, I’ve come to accept that when all my family are around I actually want to spend time with them.  So, forgive me, in my heart I’d love to have made a Christmas Cake, a Christmas Pudding, mince pies, stollen, cranberry jelly and brandy butter.  But, I realised earlier this month that I still had half a jar of mincemeat left over from last year AND the brandy butter in the fridge…So THIS year I’m doing things the easy way!

Lets Make Christmas Easy

Yes, of course, I am still making things.  There are some dishes that for me simply are not the same if they are shop bought.  AND I have a fabulous box of Christmas fruit and vegetables from Abel and Cole.  But I’m cutting right back and where I think it doesn’t matter, using ready-made sauces and just perhaps perking them up with a few fresh herbs, wine or spices (for example I’ll add red wine, juniper and rosemary to the Baxters cranberry jelly)

Here’s what we’re having:-

Main meal –

  • Crown of Turkey with sage and lemon stuffing.  I’ve bought a crown from Abel and Cole because I know there are only four of us and I really don’t fancy eating turkey for the rest of the year.  My favourite game supplier has vanished and so the venison we’ve had for the last few years is off the menu.  And, when I’ve bought goose in the past, I’ve had to spend the next few months trying to clean the oven.  I make the stuffing because it’s quite easy to do and I begrudge the cost of the ‘fresh’ versions that you can buy in the supermarket for something that is essential stale bread and herbs!
  • Spiced red cabbage with apples. I’ve made this every year that I’ve ‘done’ the family Christmas – it works well with turkey but is also very nice with venison and goose.
  • Duck fat roasties
  • Parmesan Parsnips – these are just parboiled for 5 minutes then dipped in a mix of seasoned flour and parmesan before being roasted alongside the turkey
  • Sprouts with chestnuts (ready peeled from merchant gourmet who do a much better job of getting all the skin off than I can ever manage)
  • Buttered carrots and celery with caraway seeds (boil until ‘al dente’ then toss in butter and a teaspoon of caraway seeds and put in the oven to keep warm)
  • Pigs in blankets (ready made from Abel and Cole)
  • Home made bread sauce
  • Cranberry Jelly (baxters with a bit of extra port stirred through!)
  • Red wine giblet gravy

I’ve prepared all the vegetables, the stuffing and the bread sauce in advance.

Here’s the spiced red cabbage recipe, which keeps well, is delicious with cold meats and can also be frozen.

spiced red cabbage
Print
Spiced Red Cabbage with Apple
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 45 mins
 

An easy traditional recipe for Spiced Red Cabbage

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: British
Keyword: Cabbage, Christmas, Side dish, spiced
Servings: 6 8
Calories: 150 kcal
Author: Fiona Maclean
Ingredients
  • Pepper
  • 6 teaspoons Brown sugar
  • 1 Red Cabbage About 1/2kg weight
  • 1 Large Cooking Apple
  • 2 Onions
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • 100 ml Red wine vinegar
  • 30 g Butter
  • Nutmeg Freshly grated
  • Ground Cinnamon
  • Ground Cloves
  • Salt
  • 6-8 Juniper berries Crushed
Instructions
  1. Cut the cabbage into quarters like orange segments and remove any hard stem. Then shred finely along the segments to make fine ribbons of cabbage
  2. Peel and core the apple and chop finely.
  3. Peel the onion and chop finely. Peel and chop the garlic
  4. Put a layer of cabbage in the bottom of a large ovenproof dish with a lid. Now layer onion, garlic and apple, then season with a sprinkle of the spices, two teaspoons of sugar and with salt and pepper.
    spiced red cabbage with apple and onion
  5. Continue layering and seasoning each layer, finishing with a layer of cabbage (I do this by keeping the cabbage in quarter portions, and dividing the apple/onion mix into thirds).
  6. Once all the layers are complete, pour over the vinegar and then dot the butter on top. Cover the casserole (if necessary with foil under the lid) and place in the oven at 150c for 2 hours
  7. Check and stir occasionally. This dish is best made a day in advance and reheated to allow all the spices to permeate the cabbage.

My Christmas pudding came from Waitrose and will get cooked in the microwave, laced with a little extra brandy.  I’m serving it this year with Brandy Clotted Cream because I don’t think another year’s supply of brandy butter is a good idea!

spiced red cabbage

The only real cooking I’m doing is to make up the stuffing, the bread sauce and the spiced red cabbage.  Best of all, the spiced red cabbage improves if you make it a day in advance – and it will keep quite well for 2 or 3 days in the fridge if necessary.  It really does sounds like quite a feast though doesn’t it?

I’ve got clementines, stollen and homemade mince pies and lots of chocolates if anyone is still hungry.  And, I’m hoping that it will be a really stress-free Christmas this year!

turkey crown and stuffing

 

Have a joyful and peaceful day yourselves – and try to make Christmas an easy one this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Post

Circus 1903 at the Royal Festival Hall
Last Minute Christmas Essentials
Stride out in GANT Tech Prep™ Slim Chinos…
Give the gift of Belgian Beer for Christmas!

Filed Under: Recipes, side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Cabbage, christmas, Christmas 2018

About Fiona Maclean

London based freelance writer and marketing consultant. I edit London-Unattached.com and write for a number of other publications

Comments

  1. Jackie Allum says

    January 24, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    …this might be better with a dash of Tabasco!

    Reply
  2. Cari @ MeetMyHusband says

    December 28, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    I’m with you, Fiona. I just realized for the first time this year that actually spending time with my family outweighs the need for perfectly prepared, intricate meals. Your options look delicious!

    Reply
  3. stevie says

    December 25, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Looks yummy. How long to make it though?

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      December 25, 2012 at 8:48 pm

      I made the red cabbage yesterday, the rest, I would guess probably an hour or so:) Nothing very complicated in there

      Reply
  4. Camilla @FabFood4All says

    December 25, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    I’m with you on not trying to be super woman at Christmas. I thought it would be fun to make a Chocolate Roulade this year but as the time drew nearer and with a cold in hot pursuit I realised it was an extra job that would probably finish me off! So I bought my Chocolate Roulade and very nice it was too!
    Happy Christmas! Camilla x

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      December 25, 2012 at 8:49 pm

      happy christmas to you too Camilla. I do think we get obsessed with ‘everything from scratch’ at a time when actually taking a short cut to allow us to spend holiday time together isn’t a bad idea at all!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Me

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Find Me

blogl

About London-Unattached

  • About Fiona Maclean
    • Writing for Other Publications
  • Enquiries/PR
  • Links to Other Sites
  • London Unattached Contributors
  • London Unattached Privacy Policy
  • Media Pack
  • Travel Bloggers Influencer Network

Recently Published

  • Burger and Lobster Leicester Square  – Review 
  • Four English Cathedrals and a Minster
  • Langhe And Roero International Alba White Truffle Fair
Find My 5:2 Diet Recipes quickly and easily

Search London Unattached



copyright © london-unattached.com