German style red cabbage

My father's favourite vegetable is red cabbage. So when I was cooking roast pork the other evening I decided to cook some to go with the dinner, with enough left over for a meal later in the week for him.  I also really enjoy the sweet and sour tangy flavours of this dish with the rich goodness of roast pork and crackling. It is easy to make and can be made ahead and then warmed up just before serving, and it makes good use of one of the few vegetables that are in season around here at this time of year.

1/2 medium head red cabbage, chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
6 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf

Add all the ingredients to a large pot on the stove.

Bring to the boil and then turn down to low and simmer with a lid on for about an hour until the cabbage is very soft and the apples have disappeared.

This is what it looks like after about 20 minutes

The volume will be quite a bit less and the cabbage and onions will be a uniformly dark red Burgundy colour. If there is a lot of liquid left, leave the lid off and simmer until the liquid has almost disappeared.

Finished dish

You can try and pull out the cloves and bay leaf, but I am afraid I never do. This was a nice warming side dish and it does go spectacularly well with roast pork, but warmed up and served with some good sausages on a week night it is not bad either.

I had to include a shot of the pork and crackling.  Thank you  Hopcott's  butcher for wrapping my delicious loin roast in skin thus allowing us to enjoy that wonderful crispy crackling.