Recipe(tried): Maria's Red Cabbage - Red cabbage is great with beef and noodles

You can do it the easy way and use the jarred red cabbage, or do it yourself, which is wonderful with beef and noodles.

MARIA'S RED CABBAGE

Use a large skillet with lid.

Tablespoon of margarine or butter
6 slices of bacon, fried, cooled, set aside for crumbling later, - save the grease in the skillet
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced extremely fine into shreds, the thinner the shreds, the better.
1 bay leaf
6 whole cloves
salt/pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup white sugar (more if desired - see note below)
1/4 to 1/3 cup white vinegar (more if desired - see note below)
one tart apple, peeled, cored and cubed into small pieces
1/2 cup water

Fry the bacon, starting it with the margarine/butter.

Remove the bacon, cool in a dish on the side while starting the other ingredients.

Put the shredded cabbage, bay leaf, cloves, apple, sugar and vinegar into the pan with the bacon grease. Add the water. Mix all together and start cooking. After it has come to a steaming simmer, crumble the bacon into fine pieces and throw it in. Continue to cook covered on what I call a soft, slow simmer. After a half hour or so, add the salt and pepper to taste.

It takes a good hour or even more before the cabbage wilts and becomes soft - I did it for almost two hours. You should experiment with the flavors as it cooks - I've almost always ended up adding more sugar and more vinegar as it cooks. And watch for scorching - it will dry out so that's when I add a bit more water or vinegar to keep it moist.

This recipe takes a bit of time, but it's a wonderful taste of authentic German cooking - my German neighbor's recipe!