Slow Cooked Red Cabbage with Red Wine and Bacon

Since it's throw-back Thursday, thought I'd whip out my "comfort cookbook", Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking to see what to do with a big red cabbage that was sitting longingly in my refrigerator.  At this moment, it is slow cooking in my....slow cooker and if you don't have a slow cooker, she suggests that you still cook this medley up over at least a four hour period on low in your oven.  This kind of food reminds me of something that would come from the "Alsace Lorraine" region of France (Eastern France that borders on Germany Switzerland).

Throw the following into your slow cooker:

1 small red cabbage sliced up, 1 onion chopped, 2 tart apples peeled and chopped, 4 carrots peeled and chopped, 6 slices of bacon cut up, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt,1/8 tsp. pepper, 2 cups of good, young red wine (I used 2 cups of old wine..ha), 2 cups of brown stock or canned beef bouillon, 3 tbsp. of butter.  I am cooking this using the higher heat on my slow cooker so it should take about 4 hours.  I also toss it around once in a while to distribute the liquid - though it isn't necessary.  XO

Bratwurst in Red Wine Sauce with Carmelized Onions

Oh...simplicity - and when you have that European, particularly German blood, a good sausage marinated in red wine with some sweet onions can make an October night...the night of all nights.  Tonight I made a simple but delicious dinner for the family.  I cooked up Bratwurst in a pan with a pat of butter and red wine.  Then I sautéed up a pile of onions with a further pat of butter and a sprinkle of Splenda brown sugar so they could be called carmelized.  Finally, to be healthy, I cooked up a pile of kale with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and what can I say?  Joy, comfort, good stuff.  Here's to Bratwurst!  Oh yes, I also mashed up some potatoes with Dijon mustard, and additionally made a Dijon sauce with cream, Dijon mustard as an alternative to the red wine sauce.  It's October baby, German is in the air!