Spiced Red Cabbage
My dad, who is now 83 and still working hard, loves sauerkraut and frankly anything that is pickled or fermented.
Ingredients
- 1 PC. Large head Red Cabbage
- 1/8 cup Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup mustard seeds
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 1 T. whole cloves
- 1 T. whole allspice
- 1 T. peppercorns
- 1 T. celery seed
- 1 PC. stick cinnamon - broken in half
Instructions
- Cut cabbage in half, remove the core and then shred the red cabbage using a knife or mandolin.
- Layer the cabbage in a bowl covering each layer with a bit of the salt.
- Let stand 24 hours covered.
- Rinse the cabbage and then drain the cabbage to get most of the water out on a paper towel or colander. This might take a few hours.
- Prepare 4 pints and one 1/2 pint jars by sterilizing them and then raw pack each jar with the now as dry as possible red cabbage.
- Pack them leaving 1 inch headspace. Prepare your lids and rings.
Notes
In a dutch oven on medium heat combine vinegar and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the mustard seed, and a tied cheesecloth or tea ball of the cloves, allspice, peppercorns, celery seed, and cinnamon. Cook these ingredients together until the mixture comes to a low boil for about 3 minutes This will give the spices time to infuse into the vinegar. Remove the spice ball or cheesecloth before ladling.
Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into the jars leaving a 1/2 headspace. Use the spatula to remove any air bubbles. Process in a water bath for 20 minutes when the water is boiling.
P.S. I brought my dad the jar and his face lit up... "You brought me Red Sauerkraut", well ok dad sort of! Unfortunately I had to tell him to wait for about three weeks to eat it so that the flavors would be perfect but he was grateful that I thought about him anyway.