Warm Red Cabbage Slaw

[kirra]

Warm Red Cabbage Slaw

This slaw isn’t cooked to the limp stage, like many German cabbage dishes, and it isn’t overpowered by the taste of reduced vinegar. But it retains enough old-world, traditional flavor to be a sweet accompaniment to succulent grilled pork loin or chops.

Ingredients:

1 small head of red cabbage (to yield 3 to 4 cups when shredded)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons fennel seed
1/2 cup unfiltered apple cider
1/4 cup currants
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Shred cabbage by hand; you want shreds the width of a fettuccini noodle and about 2 inches long, or thereabouts.

In nonstick saucepan, combine cabbage and olive oil over medium heat, in stages; you want just enough olive oil to coat all the shreds. Cook cabbage, stirring frequently, until it begins to give up a bit of crispness, about 10 minutes.

While cabbage is cooking, in dry, heavy skillet, toast fennel seeds until they begin to give up their fragrance, about 5 minutes. Toss fennel seeds, then stir cabbage. When the fennel seeds are toasted, set aside.

Add apple cider to cabbage and heat to simmer. Continue to stir. Add currants. Let cabbage braise until just a little less cooked than you prefer. Add lemon juice. Stir and continue to simmer a few minutes while adding salt and pepper. Yields 6 servings.