Oktoberfeast

In San Antonio and the surrounding areas, October = Wurstfest = Potato pancakes, sauerkraut and sausage feast.

With the promotions I’ve been seeing lately for Wurstfest, a 10-day Salute to Sausage and celebration of all things German including music, beer, polka, sausage, potato pancakes and sauerkraut, I have been craving sauerkraut. Or perhaps it was the Oma and the Oompahs who played plenty of German music at the New Braunfels Farm to Market last Saturday? Whatever it is, sauerkraut is calling my name.

Now, stop wrinkling your nose and shaking your head at this food craving. I love cabbage. Cooked anyway you want. There’s one restaurant I go to and order double sauteed cabbage. Granted, even extremely overcooked, it’s still my fave.

But we wanted to change things up a bit, so David found a recipe for sweet-and-sour red cabbage in Melinda and Robert Blanchard’s cookbook, At Blanchard’s Table.

With fall upon us, this brightly-colored and flavorful dish is an obvious partner for a German dinner of grilled pork chops or sausage along with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. In honor of my German heritage and in preparation for the Wurstfest, prost!

Buen provecho!

Print

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

The tangy sweetness of this dish is addictive and the red color quite festive. While I tried to cut back on the amount of brown sugar, it is best when made exactly as the recipe indicates. The bonus is it takes only about 15 minutes to make from start to finish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine German

Keyword cabbage

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author The Cowgirl Gourmet slightly adapted this recipe from Melinda and Tim Blanchard's cookbook At Blanchard's Table

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
• 1 small head of red cabbage or 1/2 of a 1 lb. cabbage cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.

2. Add the cabbage, vinegar and brown sugar and mix well. Cook, stirring often, until the cabbage turns bright purple and is crisp tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper and serve immediately or at room temperature.