German Rotkohl - Spiced Red Cabbage With Apples and Wine
"Our family favorite Rotkohl dish, in the traditional German style (with a few flourishes)! Delicious!! Red cabbage, apples, aromatic spices and wine---this dish is sure to please! Wonderful served with holiday roast turkey, beef, or ham dishes -or- with bratwurst, weisswurst or wienerwurst sausages. Tip: For a delicious & traditional European feast serve the Rotkohl with German Meatballs recipe #106298, Beef Rouladen recipe #344842, Bavarian Sauerbraten recipe #409947, Wiener Schnitzel recipe #459188, or Swedish Meatballs, along with boiled new potatoes or buttered spaetzle noodles sprinkled with fresh snipped parsley. A great make-ahead dish that freezes & reheats beautifully, and actually tastes best after flavors have had a chance to marry (a day or two after cooking). I like to make two batches at a time, one for now and one to freeze for future meals. I hope you enjoy as much as we do. As my mother made it, with adaptations from the book "Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine" by James Beard Award-Winning Chef Marcus Samuelsson."
photo by BecR2400
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup chopped pork fat or 1/4 cup chopped bacon
- 1 large red onion, finely chopped
- 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cinnamon stick
- 1 large red cabbage, tough outer leaves removed, quartered, cored, and finely shredded
- 1 sprig fresh marjoram
- 1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1⁄2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1⁄2 cup ruby port or 1/2 cup madeira wine
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar or 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 1 whole clove (optional)
- 1 firm apple, chopped (optional)
directions
- Cook the pork fat or bacon in a large skillet or dutch oven over low heat, stirring occasionally until it has rendered its fat, about 20 minutes for the pork fat or 10 minutes for the bacon.
- Add the onion, ginger, and cinnamon stick, increase the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until the onion has softened.
- Add the cabbage, stirring and cooking over medium heat until some of the bits are slightly browned and caramelized, about 10 minutes (I do this in batches). Note: You can skip the browning step if you are in a hurry, but I find that it adds a particularly wonderful caramelized flavor to the finished dish. Now add the marjoram, garam masala, vinegar, and port or Madeira, and stir well. (Note: At this point add the optional bay leaf, whole clove, and chopped apple).
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure the cabbage is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the lid and cook, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the brown sugar (or maple syrup) and cook for 15 minutes longer, or until most of the liquid has cooked away.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf before serving.
- NOTE: If you can't find garam masala, use just a small dash each of ground black pepper, rock salt, cinnamon, & cardomom.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
This is our new, favorite Rotkohl recipe! I pared the recipe down to 4 servings as I was only serving my husband and myself. This did not compromise the quality of this flavorful dish. Also had to adjust a few ingredients to what I had on hand, such as dry marjoram instead of fresh, bottled minced ginger instead of fresh, cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar (had just ran out!). Even with these slight changes, we were thrilled with your recipe, BecR. Thank you! Randy and Cathy Myers -
My DH groaned when he found out I had made red cabbage. His German mother used to make him eat it as a kid and he didn't like it. But he had seconds of this and was disappointed that there weren't leftovers. This was really good and worth the time it took to make. It was tthe perfect partner to Schnitzel. A great mix of sweet and tart. I made it exactly as written, except I did not have an apple. Delicious. -
This was great! Made it for company who claims not to like red cabbage - she and my husband loved it. Then I realized I left out the brown sugar/maple syrup and it was delish anyway!! Vielen Dank! -
Outstanding! This is one of the best Rotkohl recipes I've tasted. -
This was really outstanding! I made this for Mother's Day 2007, served with Wiener Schnitzel and Warm Potato Salad. I halved the recipe and it made enough for 4-6 generous servings. I did find that the bacon burned a little, even though I cooked it on the lowest heat for an hour and stirred frequently. This didn't effect the flavour though. I think next time, I might add a little more water during the cooking process. After simmering for an hour, there was no excess liquid, so I just stirred in the maple syrup and reheated without bothering with the extra 30 minutes of cooking uncovered. The taste was extraordinary - sweet with a rich flavour of the port. I think next time I will probably not halve the garam masala, but that's the only small change I'd make to this fabulous recipe. Thank you!
see 6 more reviews
Tweaks
-
We got together with friends for a German dinner and I didn't think I'd find a Rotkohl recipe that everyone would like. The other reviews were so good, that I gave this one a try. It was a resounding success! Everyone, including the pickiest amongst us enjoyed this recipe. I used powdered ginger and marjoram instead of fresh and used the maple syrup instead of brown sugar. The combination turned out great.
-
This is our new, favorite Rotkohl recipe! I pared the recipe down to 4 servings as I was only serving my husband and myself. This did not compromise the quality of this flavorful dish. Also had to adjust a few ingredients to what I had on hand, such as dry marjoram instead of fresh, bottled minced ginger instead of fresh, cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar (had just ran out!). Even with these slight changes, we were thrilled with your recipe, BecR. Thank you! Randy and Cathy Myers
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>Married to my sweetheart for almost forty years and we have two wonderful children who are grown and have flown the coop. Also, we have been blessed with a wonderful son-in-law and beautiful daughter-in-law, plus FIVE grandchildren: two beautiful granddaughters ages five and eight, and three sweet adorable little grandsons ages 2 months, 2 years and 3 years. My husband and I share a combination of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, Swiss, Polish, Austrian, German and French heritage, and our son-in-law and daughter-in-law are both Hispanic. We've traveled extensively to many countries abroad (we lived in Germany), and have traveled and lived in several states here in the U.S.A. Many of the recipes I post here are influenced by our combined heritage or from our travels, or they are old family favorites that I want to share with you. I hope you enjoy! Have been to culinary school with many years of cooking (mostly for my family) under my belt, so know my way around a kitchen. And I'm very lucky to have the best sous chef in the world, dddddh! One of my favorite chefs of all time is Jacques Pepin! I have several of his cookbooks, and enjoy watching his television cooking show Fast Food My Way. Another top favorite is Julia Child (of course!). A few other chefs I read/enjoy watching on t.v. are: Giada At Home, Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa, Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites, and Patti's Mexican Kitchen, and many more. On my bucket list is dining at Thomas Keller's establishment The French Laundry in Napa Valley, California... as well as Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and the James Beard award winning Tartine Bakery and Cafe in San Francisco. One day!! Hobbies/Interests: Decorating with fresh flowers and herbs from the garden is my passion, and brings me deep joy! It's really hard to beat!! I love connecting with others who enjoy the same. Gardening, decorating, sewing, music, dancing, film, and reading are also up there. Spending quality time with my grandchildren, family, and friends (and cooking holiday meals!). Currently, a newfound passion has been so richly rewarding for me: genealogical research. I heart ancestry dot com. And last but certainly not least, I absolutely LOVE cats--we have two half-Siamese fur babies (cats) that allow us to live here!! A Note of Thanks~ I try to personally thank everyone who kindly makes and reviews my recipes, but sometimes I am busy, late, or may forget. Please know that I am always humbled that you would try one of my recipes, and I enjoy reading the reviews and seeing all the pretty photographs. Thanks so much! </p>
