THE CHEF FROM HELL

When I was growing up, I lived in a small town in Pennsylvania for a few years.  I can remember my Dad taking us all out to eat at a homestyle Amish restaurant on several occasions.  Those meals linger in my memory as I recall such dishes as meatballs with gravy, apple dumplings, panfried scrapple with syrup, the homemade garlic laden pickles that came to the table as part of a relish tray, fresh bread smeared with apple butter, a thick juicy ham steak and a country red cabbage that just melted in my mouth.  Ahhh! 

What I've always loved about this style of cooking is its simplicity.  No, that does not mean it sports one dimensional flavor.  Amish cooking has a basic "feel" to it that reflects the here and now of what many Pennsylvania Dutch farmers have eaten over the years.  Here is a recreation of that wonderful red cabbage...Ahh!

Ingredients:

12 cups shredded Red Cabbage

3 large Granny Smith Apples, cored, peeled & diced

1 1/2 TBS Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper

1 pinch Ground Nutmeg

2 TBS unsalted Butter, softened

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 cup chunky style Apple Sauce

1/2 cup Homestyle Vegetable Stock

Note: If you want to make your own stock, go to Homestyle Vegetable Stock

Cooking Procedure:

Combine all ingredients (except for the apple sauce) in a large pot over medium heat

Once the mixture in the pot begins to give off steam, stir well & cover the pot

Cook for 20 minutes

Stir the cabbage in the pot from time to time as it cooks

After 15 minutes of cooking, add the apple sauce

Stir well & reduce heat to low

Cover the pot once more

Cook until cabbage is tender, about 30 minutes more

This makes a dandy side dish to most pork entrees!