Count the number of ways to cook red cabbage; 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. and so forth. The varieties are infinite, delightful and always easy.

I have my favourites.

Red Cabbage with Apple  (perfect with shepherd's pie) 

1 red cabbage 

2 eating apples
2 onions, halved and peeled
2 garlic cloves

nutmeg, cinnamon

3 tablespoons soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
butter
Shred a red cabbage (I use my new mandolin), a couple of onions and a couple of cored apples. Layer in an ovenproof dish with a couple of cloves of minced garlic, half a grated nutmeg and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of soft brown sugar and the same of white wine vinegar. Dot with a little butter (or a splash of oil), cover with a lid and bake in a low oven (150ºC) for 2 and half hours. Reheat at will. 

Red Cabbage with Orange  (ideal with baked gammon)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red cabbage
1 onion, halved and peeled
1 tablespoon sea salt
3 tablespoons soft light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups red wine
Juice of an orange
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
2 eating apples

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole. Finely slice the peeled and halved onion into thin half moons and add to the pan with the salt; this will stop it catching. Fry gently until the onion softens but doesn’t become coloured.

Finely shred the cabbage and stir it into the onion in the pan layering it over the top. Sprinkle the sugar over the cabbage, and then add the wine, orange juice and mixed spice. Peel and core the apples, and then chop them into small pieces. Add these to the pan, and when everything has wilted down a little carefully give the pan a stir.

Cover with a lid and cook very gently at the lowest possible heat for about 2 hours. It really can’t be overcooked and is often better reheated and eaten the next day. Check the seasoning when the cabbage is ready at the end, as the flavors only really come out once the vegetables have cooked down and softened.

And one more .. using the cherry coke stock from Nigella's Cherry Coke Baked Ham. Nothing else needed in the pan and it makes the most divine braised cabbage. 

Carrot Soup with Miso & Sesame (with thanks and credit to Smitten Kitchen)

I use Clear Spring Organic Sweet White Miso, which, in their online blurb, it is recommended to use (sparingly) instead of milk or cream in soups or mashed potatoes. An excellent tip for dairy-free goodness. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds carrots, peeled,sliced

2 leeks, chopped and washed - my option - or an 1 onion, chopped
4 cloves, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon (at least) finely chopped or grated ginger
4 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup white miso paste

Toasted sesame oil

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, leeks (if using) and garlic sauté until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add broth and ginger. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in a blender. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso an a half-cup of the soup. Stir the mixture back into the pot of soup. Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper or additional miso to taste.

Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of sesame oil.

(Temple soup: my body is a temple, pure in spirit if not in thought).

                                                                                     

My supper; mashed potato & celeriac, a tin of canned tuna and seasoning - shape into patties and cook in the oven until crispy-hot. I have a thing for tartare sauce.

An antidote to chocolate brownies. Gateau Breton; a traditional cake from Brittany. I haven't yet made it in the original form - with buckwheat or sarrasin, a nutty low-gluten grain - but i shall. With such few ingredients it is best to use the best .. the flavour of good butter with shine. 

Vanilla and sweet butter, with a dense bite (imagine a soft shortbread) and a sophisticated melt in the mouth texture (imagine butterscotch melting in your mouth). 

I like Nigella Lawson's version (of course) but there are many more versions on the 'net. 

25cm spring form cake tin, well greased.

225g plain flour - ideally 00 grade pasta flour - sieved
250g caster sugar - preferably from your store of vanilla sugar.
250g unsalted butter
6 large egg yolks
A glaze of a teaspoon of egg yolk from the 6, and a tablespoon of water (or milk)

Preheat oven to 190C.

If you have a mixer; add the sieved flour, sugar, butter and eggs and mix with a dough hook until combined into a bright yellow dough. 

If you have no mixer; Make a mound of the sieved flour on a worktop, make a well in it and add the sugar, butter and eggs. Knead to mix.

Scoop the dough into the tin and smooth the top with a floured hand. Expect the dough to be very sticky. Brush the gateau with the glaze and mark a lattice design on top.

Bake for 15 mins, then turn the oven down to 180C (350f) and give it another 25 minutes or so until it's golden on top and firm to the touch. Let cool completely before turning out and slicing randomly into diamond shaped tokens.

Nigel Slater's Best Brownies. Heaven in a tin. The fudgy moist centre is the aim. 

300g caster sugar

250g butter

250g chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

3 large eggs plus 1 extra yolk

50g gluten free flour (60g plain wheat flour)

60g cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line a baking tin with greaseproof paper. 

Mix the sugar and butter into a fluffy pale cloud. Set aside 50g of the chocolate (chop it up into gravel-sized pieces) and melt the rest - 20 seconds at time in the microwave, stirring after each blast. Meanwhile sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder with a pinch of salt.

Mix the beaten eggs into the sugar and butter fluff, a quarter at a time. Beat fast in between additions. Add the melted chocolate and the broken up chocolate (i used white chocolate in this version) then fold in the flour/cocoa and baking powder mixture as gently as possible. 

Put the mixture into the cake tin and put it into the oven for 25 minutes. The surface should have crusted over, but with a wobble underneath. Check with a skewer - if too much mixture clings then put it back for 3 more minutes, but no longer. 

I made 2 batches of chocolate brownies at the beginning of the week, which left one egg white per batch languishing in my fridge. These are worth making even if you don't need to use up leftovers - add the extra yoke to your frittata or scrambled egg instead.

2 egg whites (unbeaten), 175g icing sugar, 30g of cocoa and 200g ground almonds, mixed together with a fork. Pinch and roll into walnut-sized balls (keep fingers wet), bake at 200ºC for exactly 11 minutes. They will harden as they cool, but you want to keep the moist chewy centre. Try and stop eating them, if you can.

Chicken Stew, my version of Nigel Slater's Chicken stew and mash, Kitchen Diaries.

Chicken thighs, 8

Olive oil - 50ml, plus extra

Balsamic vinegar - 50ml

garlic - 4 cloves, peeled

Dried herbs - an Italian mix

bay leaves - 4 or 5

pared rind of a small orange

leeks - 3 or 4, thickly sliced

Put the chicken in a bowl (not plastic). Pour over the olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, tuck in the bay leaves and garlic cloves, a scatter of dried herbs, salt and pepper and the orange rind. Leave overnight or for at least four or five hours.

Set the oven at 200ºC. Heat enough oil in a shallow pan. Shaking each piece of chicken (the marinade will spit in the hot pan), fry each piece until golden brown on each side. Transfer to a casserole dish with a lid. In the same pan, fry the leeks over a low heat until they soften - not too hot or they will colour too much and become bitter. Add the garlic, the marinade, the rest of the balsamic and a litre of water. Bring to a boil and pour over the chicken, with the bay and orange rind. 

Put in the oven for 2 hours, checking partway through that there is enough water to cover the chicken. Add salt, pepper or a little balsamic if you wish. Serve with mashed potato.

I needed something low stress for supper tonight, but i didn't expect anything so pretty (or quite as delicious). If you're going to make it, use buffalo mozzarella, so exquisitely soft and creamy. The children asked for second helpings.

6 eggs beaten, a packet of mozzarella and mortadella, chopped. A little grated parmesan, chopped parsley. Beat. Heat butter in a 25cm pan with handle until it sizzles. Cook egg mix for 5 minutes without stirring. Finish under a hot grill.