Winter warmer

I tend to cook by instinct rather than creating proper recipes. The advantages to this are that using recipe books for inspiration I can usually cobble something together from whatever I have in my cupboards, but the disadvantage is that I rarely make the same meal twice. I've made some spectacular chillis/pasta sauces/fish pies over the years, and some absolute stinkers. So I thought it might be a good idea to start recording some of my better efforts for posterity (and for you to try too if you like).

Last night I did braised red cabbage to go with a grilled pork chop and lentil stew. Here's how I did it:

(Serves four)

1. Core and shred half a large red cabbage, plus chop a small red onion and place it in a casserole dish.

2. Add a handful of dried cranberries (I think raisins/sultanas might work just as well, but I had these left over from making a Christmas cake).

3. Add one tsp cinnamon, two tsp brown sugar, a good grating of nutmeg, and one clove of garlic and about an inch piece of ginger (both grated). Season well with salt and pepper

4. Add three tablespoons of red wine vinegar, mix it all up a bit, dot with about two tablespoons of butter and bake in a low oven for about 1.5 to 2 hours.

The heat from the ginger and the sourness of the vinger stops it tasting too sweet, and it tasted great with spicy lentils. Now that I've written it down I'll be making it again very soon. Let me know how it goes if you try it.

Happily braising away - I forgot to take a photograph after it came out as I was too busy eating it!