Here's the way my grandfather cooked it.

I've made it with apples, too (cutting down or leaving out the sugar-depending on the apples). To me, sauteing implies browning and braising implies just cooking in liquid until tender. But no way would I cook cabbage for two hours (I wonder if there would be anything left to eat? LOL!)

GrandpaÂs Braised Red Cabbage

4 - 6 strips bacon
1 head red cabbage, slivered
1 large onion, chopped
2 - 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 - 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch caraway seeds (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste (depends on how salty your bacon is)
1. Cut the head of cabbage in half or quarters. Cut out core and eat raw (or discard). Slice each half or quarter into 1/4" wide strips (or however wide you like them).
2. Fry the bacon, remove from pan and chop.
3. Sauté the onion in the bacon fat until translucent. Add sugar, vinegar and caraway seeds to taste  you need the balance of sweet and sour. Stir to get all the good "griblets" off the pan (also known by the fancy term of "deglazing"), then add slivered cabbage. Stir to coat the cabbage with the "sweet and sour" and cook over medium heat until cabbage is wilted.
4. Add cooked bacon and cover. Cook over low heat until cabbage is tender (15-20 minutes). Salt and pepper (or paprika) to taste.

lpinkmountain,
This is a quick recipe for a sort of sweet and sour cabbage that's easy and fresh tasting. We like it very much.

Sweet 'N Sour Cabbage and Bacon Saute

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 c. sliced onions
4 c. shredded green cabbage
1 Tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
Dash of pepper

In a 10 inch nonstick skillet heat oil, add bacon and onions and saute until browned. Add cabbage and stir until thoroughly combined. Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender and liquid has evaporated.

*Instead of cooking bacon, I have just added the Hormel "real" bacon 50% less fat when I toss in the cabbage. When I do that there's not much liquid so I add a little water or chicken broth.

Pam

LPink...

Did you try this one? It cooks for 30 minutes not hours.

BRAISED SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE

Serves 4 - 6

1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 large apple, cored and chopped
1 small red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly shredded - (6 cups shredded)
1 full cup (9 fl oz) apple juice (250 ml)
3 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS sugar substitute
1 teasp sea salt
1/2 teasp freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Cook the onion and apple for 5 minutes or until softened.
Stir in the cabbage and toss well.
Add the apple juice, vinegar, sugar substitute and seasoning and stir.

2. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until the liquid reduces completely and the cabbage is tender.
Check seasoning and serve.

Leftovers can be chilled for one day and reheated over a moderate heat.

Source: Adapted from Rick Gallop's GI Diet
Green-Light Cookbook

My Comments:

This is a really good, tangy side dish for those who love red cabbage! I halved the recipe for just the two of us but it was so good we nearly finished it all, so no problem with making too much. When finely shredded  with a mandolin - the cabbage measured exactly 3 cups (200 grams) for my halved version.
I used one small apple and half an onion but didnÂt reduce the olive oil. Wolf and I were both delighted with this dish !

SharonCb

LOL! I happened to make this tonight. It's similar to one of the above recipes, but do try adding caraway; it's great with cabbage. We love this. I love the leftovers, too. You can use either red or white cabbage and onions. I adapted this from a recipe that called for the cabbage and onions to be left in large pieces, but I like them cut up littler. I added the wine or sugar. I use kosher concord grape wine! Laugh all you like -- I do -- but sometimes it's just the thing for a dish like this. The original recipe also said to serve this immediately, but I think it's fine later and even leftover.

3 T olive oil
1/2 red cabbage -- core and shred or chop
1 large onion - cut to your favorite size (I chop)
1-2 tart apples - core & dice (peel on)
1 T or more caraway seeds
3 T or more balsamic vinegar
a little sweet red wine or brown sugar
salt and pepper

Heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cabbage, apples, caraway, and vinegar. Cook 5-10 minutes more, to desired consistency. When cabbage is soft, season with salt, pepper, and wine or brown sugar.

Enjoy!

lpinkmountain, I never cook cabbage very long. I usually just slice out as much of the head as I need -- maybe 1/4 inch thick(?). I put some butter, caraway seeds and a little water in a sauté pan; add the sliced cabbage and let the whole works steam until the water's evaporated. It only takes a few minutes and tastes wonderful. When I add cabbage to a soup or stew I always add it at the end of cooking.

Lpink, well I guess you got the idea by now. Braise is a method not a time. It just means to sear the food first to develop some brown, then cook with some liquid, at a slow simmer, in a covered pan. How long you braise depends entirely on the food you are braising. So cabbage would braise in only 20, 30 or 40 minutes depending on how much you're cooking at one time and what you're cooking with it, while a roast could take 2 or 3 hours. In other words, when the food is cooked/soft, it's cooked regardless of amount of time it took. The advantage of the braise for your dish would be how nicely all the flavors would infuse in each other, where a quick steam or saute wouldn't develop the same flavor.

Braised sweet/sour cabbage is also very yummy made with oranges instead of apples. Basically Sharon's recipe but substitute OJ for the AJ, eliminate the apple, & add a can of mandarin oranges just before removing from the heat...residual heat from the cabbage will warm the oranges. I still use the bacon.

/tricia

For plain buttered cabbage, I like it cooked in the microwave best. It steams beautifully.

Lpink, maybe that long cooking time is for caramelized cabbage. The difference in flavor is like that between sauteed onions and caramelized onions. I cook the cabbage (and onions) in butter over low heat until they give up their moisture and become a light golden brown. I don't add any other liquid to them and usually season with s & p, a touch of Old Bay and marjoram toward the end of the cooking period.

Ruthanna, your post touches on why I'm confused. It seems like if you want a caramelized flavor, you should not use any water at all, because if you add water you will get the steaming reaction with the food. Also, I can't see how cabbage can "caramelize" because there is so little sugar in it. The apples and onions I can imagine caramelizing. I wonder if I could sear the apples and onions and then stick that and the cabbage in a slow cooker?

Stop thinking so much and just start cooking. LOL

The farmers' markets have huge heads of cabbage for good prices this time of year so why not split up a head and try cooking it with different methods and see which one you like best?

I love making the World's best braised green cabbage form Molly Stevens' All About Braising cookbook. I think the reason why a braise works for cabbage is low and slow brings out its mild sweetness, caramelizing the sugars. The sulpher taste comes from over cooking using higher heat. So the cabbage becomes meltingly sweet and tender.

I have included a link to the recipe on Orangette. She adds a poached egg at the end, I have never tried this but we often add sausage in the last hour or so.

If you check out Molly Stevens' website she also has a wonderful recipe for Braised red cabbage there. If you want to make it vegetation I think I would add some full flavored mushrooms like porcini. The website is: http://www.mollystevenscooks.com/

-Robin

Here is a link that might be useful: World's best braised green cabbage

Robin - thanks for the world's best braised green cabbage recipe! I made it last night and it was great - we both just loved it!

Your welcome Woodie! We love it around here as well. Okay 3 out of 4 of us do, my 6 year old won't eat cabbage. My 3 year old loves cabbage though, raw, cooked, sauerkraut... It is a good thing he loves it, my winter CSA gives us 1 every other week.

You really should try here braised red cabbage recipe as well.

-Robin

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Cabbage braised with maple and ginger

I like your attitude Ruthanna! I have cabbage almost every day, lol! It's the only fresh "green" vegetable I can afford in the winter. I usually have one of my many versions of coleslaw, or add it to stir fry or soup. But I am going to try braised cabbage. Don't know if I will have time this weekend. I have to take the PRAXIS Sat AM and am going hiking and out to eat in the PM, then a dinner party Sunday for friends--serving lasagne to use up some noodles that are languishing in the cupboard. Wish the cabbage went with lasagne, but I can't quite imagine it with the apples and caraway and the italian seasonings of the lasagne. But I will definately make some kind of braised cabbage soon. It's about time I used my braising dish for its intended purpose!

Robin thanks for the link to that GREAT blog. Lots of yummy stuff there and cool writing!

I am glad you like Orangette. It is my favorite food blog. All the recipes I have tried from there have been good. The writing is also really fun. The savoy cabbage gratin on her site is also excellent and easy.

As for braised cabbage and lasagna, the world's best braised green cabbage would be a very good accompaniment to lasagna.

-Robin

This is slightly OT, but we ARE talking about braising greens...

The other day I had a head of escarole. Cut out the core, washed all the leaves but didn't dry them very thoroughly, heated up a couple of tbsp of good olive oil in a big saute pan until good & hot, threw in the damp leaves and stirred them around; put the lid on and cut the flame to low, allowed them to steam in their own vapors for about 4 or 5 minutes. Sprinkled the now-wilted leaves with a little black pepper and sriracha, and a little grated parmesan, and ate the whole dish myself; it was yummy if I do say so myself. Made a great and supremely healthy lunch.

I braised for the first time tonight! I made the cabbage with apple, onion and caraway recipe from Orangette's blog, although I will probably try other versions too, as I eat cabbage in one form or another almost every week. I braised it for an hour on med. low in my braising pan on top of the stove. That's the first time I have used that pan for braising--it is my usual saute pan and was my stir fry pan until I got a small wok. The cabbage didn't smell sulphery, it smelled good and tasted good. It's not mushy either! Braising is fun!

Thanks folks for all the ideas, tips and advice!

Well, what do you know? I didn't know the cabbage I loved was braised, LOL. Arley, the hospital I worked at as a kid, haha, used to serve cabbage like that and I often only ate that for lunch on the days they served that. I sometimes fixed for the kids and me, DH thinks he hates cabbage. But I'm excited about all these recipes above. I'm copying and saving. They all look great, something else I can use cabbage in besides cole slaw.