Recipe - Braised Red Cabbage With Chestnuts And Red Wine (Tuscan)

2 ounce Dried porcini mushrooms;
soaked
3 tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
1 md Onion; minced
2 One half pound Red cabbage 1medium; cored
and shredded
1 One half cup Dry red wine
1 One half cup Vegetable broth
2 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
One fourth teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg
One half teaspoon Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pound Chestnuts; parboiled

1. CHESTNUTS: Parboil for ten minutes, and remove the outer and inner
skins. Soak the MUSHROOMS in warm water for 1 hour. Reserving the liquid,
drain, rinse, squeeze "dry" and mince the mushrooms. Filter the liquid and
set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a heavy 3quart oven dish that has a tightly fitting cover, heat the
oil and saute the mushrooms and onion for 5 minutes over low heat, stirring
frequently until the onions are soft and buttery. Stir in the cabbage and
Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the wine, broth, vinegar, nutmeg, salt, and a generous grinding of
peper. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours. Make sure that the liquids
are not cooking too fast; if so, add more broth.

4. Gently stir in the chestnuts and cook, covered, for another hour or
until the cabbage is tender and most of the liquid absorbed. Adjust
seasoning and serve.

SERVES 6, after 4One fourth hours, easy. mcPER SERVING 23% cff: 457cals; 11g fat

MAKE AHEAD: Chestnuts can be skinned 1 day in advance. There are several
different kinds of chestnuts (Castanea), at least three of which have
edible fruits as fruit or vegetable, as well as in the form of ground flour
from which they make cakes, bread, polenta, and crepes.

TIP : Chestnuts are available from October through January. Chestnuts
should be firm, smooth, full, shiny and vividly brown. To prepare for this
recipe: make a cross on the flat side of each nut with a sharp knife.
Roast, boil, or bake until flesh is tender. To peel, parboil for 10
minutes, remove inner and outer skin.

"Cavolo in Umido con Vino Rosso e Castagne," from SOLO VERDURA, by Anne
Bianchi (Ecco, 1997). Edited by Pat Hanneman 3/98

ANNESTORY: "True Tuscan connoisseurs (of red cabbage) always wait until
school children begin wearing their wool uniforms that ... that presage the
arrival of winter. Small wonder, then, that the following recipe so
successfully pairs this most colorful of cabbages with the seasonal
harbinger, chestnuts. To best capture the mood, serve it in a decorative
earthenware casserole with plenty of sturdy bread to soak up the sauce."

SCANSTORY We "always wait until school children begin wearing their wool
unison"

NOTES : Other ways to use chestnuts: Fresh chestnuts can be boiled, roasted
(stovetop or oven), or grilled (Place in aluminum foil packets). Chestnut
meats can be combined with vegetable broth and baked until soft, then
blended with bechamel and served as a side dish. Dried chestnuts can be
boiled until soft, pureed and plated with sauteed greens.
Recipe by: SOLO VERDURA, by Anne Bianchi

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Mar 26,
1998