Red Cabbage of the frozen variety

[midnightcatprowl]

On an impulse a while back on a rare visit to Mr Tesco I bought a packet of frozen red cabbage.

Although I like the cabbage family as a general thing I have a love/hate relationship with red cabbage. Sometimes when eating out somewhere I'm given a salad with red cabbage in it and it tastes wonderful and I wonder why I don't buy it. But when I do buy red cabbage I can't eat enough of it raw to get through even a small head of it and cooked it always seems very dull and much less nice than some sort of a green cabbage.

Now I've got this packet of frozen red cabbage which seemed like a good idea at the time but now it glares balefully at me from the freezer and is not getting used.

My main problem with red cabbage is that every recipe you come across for cooking it seems to involve long slow cooking but to me neither the aroma nor flavour of cabbage benefits by long, slow cooking.

Any ideas of what I can do with my frozen red cabbage? (Put it in the compost bin is not an acceptable suggestion!).

[johnstevens77]

On an impulse a while back on a rare visit to Mr Tesco I bought a packet of frozen red cabbage.
My main problem with red cabbage is that every recipe you come across for cooking it seems to involve long slow cooking but to me neither the aroma nor flavour of cabbage benefits by long, slow cooking.

Any ideas of what I can do with my frozen red cabbage? (Put it in the compost bin is not an acceptable suggestion!).

Maybe the lack of replies is an indication that long slow cooking is the way we all do it. Plenty of recipes about.

john

[Slarti]

Pickle it into sauerkraut?

Don't know how well that would go with frozen cabbage.

Red bubble and squeak?

Cabbage soup?

Slarti

[midnightcatprowl]

Pickle it into sauerkraut?

Well I partially took up your suggestion Slarti in the sense that I tried it in what I suppose you would refer to as a short term pickle i.e. whatever chopped up from raw in cold vinegar (I go for Apple Cider Vinegar) with some spices thrown in (I tend to favour coriander), left for just a few days and then consumed within the next week or two. Great way of using up those odds and ends in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, plus sad looking onions etc.

Unfortunately the results with the frozen red cabbage were not good as the freezing process seemed to have robbed it of all texture not to mention taste. As a veggie I'm a big fan of frozen veg as a way of always having veg to hand even when the fresh supplies have run out but some things freeze better than others and cabbage in general and red cabbage in particular fall on the big 'NO' side.

I've settled for feeding small amounts into batches of veg soup as I make them. In small amounts the whole pot doesn't turn pink and what little flavour it has left just mingles in with the rest.

[Slarti]

Unfortunately the results with the frozen red cabbage were not good as the freezing process seemed to have robbed it of all texture not to mention taste. As a veggie I'm a big fan of frozen veg as a way of always having veg to hand even when the fresh supplies have run out but some things freeze better than others and cabbage in general and red cabbage in particular fall on the big 'NO' side.

ISTR that it is similar to trying to freeze strawberries, you just can't do it quick enough to prevent the ice crystals from bursting the cells in the cabbage/strawberry and so when they defrost, they turn to mush.

And with cabbage if you add it to liquid the flavour falls out into the liquid.

I still have a book my Mam bought in the 60s, when we first got a fridge/freezer, called Will it Freeze that tells you what can and can't be home frozen. There are quite a few things that can be bought commercially frozen that it advises won't work at home as our freezers just don't get cold enough.

Slarti

[DiamondEcho]

I've cooked it like this and enjoyed it - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/881 ... ed-cabbage
'Sticky spiced red cabbage. This colourful dish will complement any festive main course. Toss any leftovers with a drizzle of olive oil and serve with cold cuts, pâté or cheese'

Simple to make, and if say at Xmas time it has the virtue of being one of those side dishes you can prep a day or two before.

[GJHarney]

Stick a bit in with your stir frys straight from the freezer, alternatively it would make a good quick veggie stir fry side dish to lots of things, e.g., http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/occasions/christmas/christmas-last-minute-and-easy/quick-stir-fried-spiced-red-cabbage-with-apples.

Failing that cook yourself some scouse (regular or blind) and have some quickly boiled and then mixed with some vinegar (balsamic if you like) to go with it (if you can't manage scouse then a regular stew of choice would have to do!).