Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Artisan red cabbage recipe for canning, Rooster vs man,

So, I'm thinking about taking one of those  "blog every day" challenges.   The two things holding me back are 1. I'm not sure I have that much to say. 2. To blog everyday I would have to seriously  go off-topic for info.  Should I?  Shouldn't I?  You tell me, cuz you guys are the ones that read this stuff.  And now on to Artisan lifestyle stuff.  We ate the last jar of  red cabbage from last years harvest.   Note to self: 8 jars isn't enough to get us through the whole season.  Jimmy's mom gave me the recipe for this years ago and I have been canning  it for about 5 years.   The basic recipe goes like this:




Artisan Red Cabbage recipe:


1 cup shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2  granny smith apple, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive  oil
1 tablespoon  brown sugar
1/4  cup white vinegar or  apple cider vinegar


Mix together the  butter, olive oil,   brown sugar  and vinegar in a skillet and heat to medium high.  When butter is melted add vegetables and saute until onions turn clear.




 When I can this, I leave out the butter and add extra vinegar.   I water bath it for about 20 to 30 minutes.  Because I add so much extra vinegar, the cabbage needs to cure for about 6 weeks  before it stops tasting like a vinegar bomb. I have no idea what kind of scientific-y chemistry thing goes on in that jar  after it is sealed and sanitized,  but it becomes  pretty yummy and the cabbage, apples and onions stay  fairly crisp. 
Cabbage goes a long way. Each head of cabbage makes  about 8 1/2 pint  jars, which is perfect for two people.


On a completely different note... I'm not sure  if I should interfere with Jimmy's relationship with the worlds tiniest rooster.  Jimmy went outside to do some yard work a couple of days ago and  I watched out the window.  Arnie followed him all over the yard  pecking  at  the back of Jimmy's shoe.    Jimmy ignored him for a while and just cut his blackberries.   Arnie kept pecking at the back of his leg.  After a while  Jimmy  turned  around, knelt down and started hand wrestling with him.  Arnie was beside himself with joy,  jumping up and down  and   chest puffing and squawking and flapping his wings..  Jimmy  finally got tired of the game and stood up.  Arnie just stood there for second  waiting .  When Jimmy went back to cutting blackberries...Arnie    just wandered off and joined the rest of the flock.











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