Braised Cabbage and Bacon

Red cabbage is going to be the star of this dish.  Don’t they look like angels, joyful arms and wings raised in praise and song?I want to make more side dishes with vegetables, so tonight we will braise regular and red cabbage in chicken stock and topped with bacon.  Serves eight to ten hungry friends.

Ingredients

• A small head of red cabbage
• A small green cabbage
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 pound bacon cut in two-inch pieces

Fire up a big chimney of charcoal.

Peel off discolored outer leaves from the cabbages.  Divide into quarters and remove center stem.  Place in a large camp Dutch oven (a 14-inch or 16-inch) with cut side down.  Distribute onions around the cabbages.  Pour chicken stock over the cabbage.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drape bacon pieces across the tops of the cabbage.Make a circle of 14 hot charcoals and carefully place big Dutch oven on top.  Place lid on the oven and put a tight circle of hot charcoals around the lid.  As the charcoal burns down, add more to the lid.  After about 30 minutes, remove old charcoals and replace with new hot charcoals to keep the temperature constant. After about an hour, poke a fork into the cabbage to make sure it is tender.  The bacon should be brown and crispy.  If the cabbage is tender, remove the lid and add a bunch of hot fresh charcoal underneath the oven to reduce the remaining liquid.    Ahhh, I love this slightly sweet and savory vegetable dish!  The bacon brings out the best of the cabbage, the chicken stock makes the cabbage tender and flavorful, and the colors are simply lovely.

Next time, I won’t mix the regular and red cabbages because the purple-blue color from the red cabbage tinged the green cabbage an unpleasant way.  I will also add a drizzle of aged balsamic at the end, which was my plan but I forgot tonight.

We may be making this for our Prairie Dog friends at the next DOG (Dutch Oven Gathering).  If you make it, please let me know!  Enjoy!