INGREDIENTS - serves 6

 1/2 large red cabbage, sliced

1 medium Onion diced (optional)

2 or 3 Large Clove garlic crushed

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons Brown sugar

60 mls balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

Heaped Tablespoon Cherry/Blackberry Jam

Optional

The onion above is optional - if for any reason you don’t like onion or have one - don’t bother but its probably a bit nicer with it.

Pop a cinnamon stick in. for added flavour once you start simmering or for even the last 15 mins. Nice and festive.

Red cabbage is just great and if you aren’t having it regularly you are missing out!

As a side dish, the traditional spiced red Cabbage is off the menu after Christmas - you won’t want it come Spring so this sweet and sour alternative is just the thing and as easy as can be as its just done on the hob and there is no faffing about with apples and onions!

METHOD

Slice your cabbage finely and throw it into your saucepan, with the garlic, once the butter is melted and really stir it around to coat it in the butter.

Cook on a medium heat. Keep stirring and wait for the cabbage to soften just a bit. This will take a few minutes. Add your salt now - adding it early draws out the flavour.

Add the sugar and stir it well through the cabage before adding your balsamic vinegar. As you bring the heat up to get a bit of a simmer going add LOTS of Black Pepper. The Black Pepper in this cabbage is more than just a seasoning.

Once your mixture is simmering turn it down a bit and pop a lid on the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 10/15 mins. You will need stir it from time to time and make sure that its just barely simmering but not over cooking.

After 15 Mins stir in your jam and cook for a further 15 mins with no lid as you will need to reduce the amount of liquid.

5 mins before its cooked taste a piece to see how its doing in terms of texture and also to see if it might need some more black pepper.

If you think its still to crunchy or there is too much liquid just turn up the heat a bit at the end and moniter it - keep it from burning by stirring.

Ingredients.

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 2 med onions - halved and sliced

• 4 medium cloves garlic crushed

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon Dried Herbs (I used a mix of Mixed Herbs, Oregano & Thyme)

• 2 Teaspoons Sugar (brown if have it)

• 120mls RED Wine

• 2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes (without herbs)

• 400mls Warm water

• Sea Salt

• Black Pepper

I was inspired to make this by a friend and it was inspiration from his recipe that made me include both the wine and the onions. Read more about it on the Blog Here

Method.

In a Large Saucepan slowly cook your onions for a few minutes and then add your garlic, herbs, and bay leaves. You don’t want the heat too high and remember to keep stirring. Keep cooking until you see a bit of colour appearing - not from burning obviously! Marcin says this is where the flavour starts to develop. Add your sugar - you sauce needs it. Keep cooking and add your large pinch of salt and a few twists of Black Pepper.

Now you want to add your Red Wine - and perhaps have a glass yourself 😉.

Cook the wine in for a few minutes and then add your 2 tins of Tomatoes and then fill one of the cans with warm water and add that too.

Bring this to the boil and then let it just simmer for AT LEAST 2 hours and anything up to 5. I did about 4 or 5 hours because my cooker is electric and sometimes you realise it’s turned itself down and you’ve lost your simmer! With Gas - you’ll need to check often that you aren’t boiling it.

Once Cooked you can then blitz it for a smooth sauce. But remember to remove the bay leaves

All of this happens without a lid on the saucepan, by the way and as it simmers and reduces you will not be able to resist the temptation to taste this many times!

Larder Staples. I say that Sherry is an absolute essential in your store cupboard. You can buy it in Lidl or Aldi very cheaply and I add it to almost everything. So if you don’t have wine .. use about 80mls sherry instead or port or that bottle of marsala that you once got as a present and never knew what to do with it!

Make in advance. This will freeze very well - and you need very little for pizza so if you are freezing the whole lot - freeze it in a few batches.

Serving. Once you taste this you may well decide that you are happy to use this as your sauce on Meatballs - check my recipe HERE

Ingredients.

• 1 red pepper

• ½ Green pepper

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 3 garlic cloves crushed

• 1 Tin tomatoes

• 1 Teaspoon Hot Paprika – (not smoked)

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• Black Pepper

• Sea Salt

• 60 mls sherry

• 1 Teaspoon of brown sugar

• 1 Bay Leaf (optional)

• Fresh Parsely (optional)

• Fresh Coriander (optional)

Alternatives

If you don’t have hot paprika use regular paprika (not smoked) and a pinch or quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes or

You think you need a cookbook and lots of strange ingredients to make certain types of foods - but you really don’t. And my main reason for not trying something like this sooner was the effort of charring, roasting and peeling peppers - which in fairness results in a great taste … but follow this method and you will have a result that tastes just as good! It’s just a bit of extra time sweating the peppers.

Method.

Cut the peppers into long thin strips thas are as flat as possible

Pop them into a saucepan with the oil and some sea salt and slowly sweat them on a low heat keeping the lid on as much as possible but stirring regularly.

Add nothing else because you need the smell and texture of the peppers to guide you. You want to get these peppers to smell as close to roast peppers that you want to eat as much as you can. Also think how floppy skinned roast peppers are … if your peppers are not soft and flexible … you need to keep sweating them.

This takes a while but eventually when they smell really good and are soft … add your garlic. This should result in an even more amazing smell … that reminds you of your holidays!

Add your tomatoes, hot paprika, black pepper, bay leaf and sherry.

Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for 10 mins.

After 10 mins -put the lid back on the pan - you don’t want to reduce the sauce too much as it’s not a huge amount. And gently simmer for another 10 mins.

Finally turn the heat down even lower and do another 10 mins with the lid on.

You can add the fresh herbs on top of the plate when serving, in a dish at the table or stir into the final sauce. Alternatively use the herbs in a cous cous to serve with the Meatballs and sauce.

Once Cooked you can then blitz it for a smooth sauce if you like but remember to remove the bay leaf if you used one.

Larder Staples. I say that Sherry is an absolute essential in your store cupboard. You can buy it in Lidl or Aldi very cheaply and I add it to almost everything.

Make in advance. This will freeze very well

Serving. This is delicious on Spiced Meatballs - check my recipe for these and other meatballs HERE . However I serve the sauce on the side or in a ramekin at the table.

Serve with Cous cous, you can add fresh herbs and lemon to the cous cous also.

• 2 Large Onions

• 1.5 tablespoons butter

• 1 teaspoon oil *

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons sherry/port

• Thyme - about half a teaspoon

• Black Pepper

There are heaps of recipes for caramelised onions available and lots of them are delicious - but often they call for shallots and particular colour onions and some specific sugar that is a very definite shade of brown. Can anyone really get that caught up between Moscovado and Demerara on a Tuesday morning? And as for the colour of the onion ….. well if you are reading this recipe then, like me, you’ve never met an onion you didn’t like!

I’ve made these recipes - they are of course delicious - but the peeling of endless shallots and panic over port and the smell in the house for days … renders it all a bit bothersome.

If on the other hand you would like some delicious onions for pittas, sangers (if British see Sarnies), tartlets, antipasta etc - look no further than this speedy little winner - the onions last ages and jazz up every thing!

As the METHOD on this is vague - you can assume it’s fairly fool proof!

Slice 2 large onions. Red or White

Pop them in a saucepan with the butter and oil (*The oil is so the butter doesn’t burn).

Sweat them on a low heat till they start to soften and then add your sugar. If you don’t have brown … why panic .. use white it will be fine!

Once you think the sugar has melted then add your half teaspoon of thyme. (if you like the thyme flavour you can up this to about a teaspoon the next time)

Keep stirring and once they are quite soft and the colour is a bit translucent then add your sherry. Port will do fine.

Cook these on low for around 20 mins - remembering to stir often so they don’t burn.

Here’s the vague bit! You want to sweat these for a good while in the butter and sherry liquid and any juice from the onions - but you need to reduce that liquid by the time they are finished … so you will do this by using a lid on the pot. If you think you’ve let the liquid evaporate too quickly leave the lid on for a while to build up liquid and when you need it to go - take the lid off! But even when the lid is on - take it off any time you think you need to stir.

I don’t know what type of hob you have - on some 2 is low but mine can be below 1 and still cooking so just feel your way on this one - lets put it this way …

If they aren’t burning - that’s a good sign

If they aren’t cooked after 20 mins - cook them some more!