Canning 101: Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

When my sons were visiting their grandparents, they had dinner with friends of the family, and Shirley made a red cabbage salad. My boys were in hog heaven and asked if I could get the recipe (which I did - and it's awesome).

When going through my canning books, I stumbled across a recipe for red cabbage with apples that is really close to Shirley's recipe. This is an easy way to have a side dish ready to go when you're making pork or lamb for supper - all you have to do is open the jar, heat it through and serve.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

4 1/2 pounds red cabbage

1/3 cup pickling salt

5 1/2 cups red wine vinegar (5%)

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/4 pounds (about 4 to 5 medium) tart apples

1 3/4 cups (2 medium) chopped onions

Remove and discard bruised outer red cabbage leaves. Quarter, core and slice cabbage 1/2-inch thick. In a large bowl, toss cabbage with pickling salt until well combined. Cover, and let stand in a cool location for 24 hours. Rinse cabbage, drain and dry thoroughly on several layers of paper towels for 6 hours.

In a large stockpot, combine red wine vinegar, brown sugar and black pepper. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer gently for 5 minutes, or until the brown sugar dissolves. Keep liquid hot while filling jars.

Just before filling jars, peel, core and shred the apples; treat to prevent browning. In a large bowl, toss together the red cabbage, apples and the onions.

Pack into prepared hot pint jars, and pour the hot brine over the vegetables, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Yield: 7 pints