Thanksgiving Meal - Braised Red Cabbage

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada, the Americans celebrate it in late November. This year, my sister-in-law hosted the meal, and, as she did not want to cook all the parts of a meal for twelve or so people, she put each of us in charge of certain portions of the meal, sort of a pot-luck. Mine was one vegetable dish, and a tomato salad. I came across this on Martha Stewart's website, she has some recipes that are quite good. This one turned out good, though I did accidentally leave out the honey, for some reason. The red wine I used was a merlot from Point Peelee Island Winery, one of my favourite, but use any that you like. It turned out quite good. I used the largest knife of my new knife set to slice the cabbage, it worked quite well.

We also received another surprise that day, as my sister and her husband announced that they are expecting their first child! I am going to be an uncle, for the first time. Congrats to them!

Braised Red Cabbage
Adapted from a Martha Stewart Show recipe
1 cup red wine
One 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 head red cabbage
2 tsp coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Halve the red cabbage length-wise, cut the core out and then thinly cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, bring the wine, cinnamon stick, honey, oil, and fennel seeds to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is soft but not mushy, about 1 hour. Remove cinnamon stick before serving.