Cranberry oat coconut biscuits

These are probably my favourite biscuits at the moment. They remind me a bit of the 'National Trust' biscuits my mum used to make (the bicarb, and oats). And I love that the only sweetener (apart from the cranberries) is honey - I am always looking for good things to do with my jars on jars of honey... 

(makes about 12 small ones - double for a more normal number of biscuits is in brackets)

50 g wholemeal flour (100 g)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional) (2 tsp) 

45 g oats (90 g)

43 g desiccated coconut (86 g)

23 g sunflower seeds (46 g)

15 g dried cranberries (30 g)

56 g honey (112 g)

38 g melted butter (or coconut oil) (72 g)

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (1/2 tsp)

1 tbsp warm water (2 tbsp)

Heat oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with paper. 

Mix flour, cinnamon if using, oats, coconut, cranberries and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Melt butter and honey together in a small bowl in the microwave until just melted. Mix bicarb and water together in a cup and then add to the butter/honey mix. Add the butter/honey/bicarb mix to the flour mix, and mix well.

Put tbsp sized balls on the tray and flatten as much as you can without breaking (nb one time we squished the mix into dinosaur cutters to make dinosaur shapes and it worked OK). Bake 12-15 min until golden. Take out of the oven, let sit on the tray for c. 10 min, then remove to a wire rack and let cool.

The toasted oat / cranberry / sunflower seed / coconut mixture is delicious. Could easily be vegan (with coconut oil instead of butter). Raisins instead of cranberries and chopped walnuts instead of sunflower seeds could be good - or other such substitutions.

White chocolate, cranberry and macadamia cookies

I was given some of those nice hot chocolate sticks, the ones with a big lump of chocolate on the end of a little wooden skewer. But I am a bit of a chocolate purist, and only really fancied drinking mugs of the darkest stuff. So ended up with 2 lumps of white chocolate on sticks, that I was never going to use for making hot chocolate. I was reflecting on how I do like white chocolate but only in certain situations, e.g. cookies, and then realized there was nothing stopping me from chopping the chocolate off the sticks and using it to make cookies! Other situations that I like white chocolate in are with cranberries and with macadamias, and weirdly I'd just also been given a packet of dried cranberries, and had spontaneously purchased a little packet of salted macadamias. This recipe sounded totally perfect, so I followed it - although I only made a quarter of the amount, because I needed to scale it to the amount of white chocolate I had. It made about 20 cookies, one whole baking tray, which seemed like about right for us tbh. The full amount would have been way too much - they're pretty full-on (although delicious).

(quantities for 20 cookies)

3/4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 cup (56.7 g / 2 oz) butter, room temperature
1/4 cup packed golden-brown sugar
3/16 cup white sugar
1/2 a large egg (used 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1 tbsp boiling water)
1/4 tbsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 oz dried cranberries
2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/4 cup (1 oz) coarsely chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts

Heat oven to 177C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Mix flour and bicarb in a medium bowl with a fork. Beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until blended. Beat in egg, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended, stirring in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts in the final strokes.

Space approx. tbsp sized flattened balls on baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until just golden, about 15 min. Cool on sheets.

Chocolate biscuit cake

I have made chocolate biscuit cake before, it's a classic. This one is slightly different - not necessarily vegan, and didn't add milk/cream. Approximately followed this recipe.

This turns out to be an excellent use-up recipe - it came to mind because I had a pack of biscuits I knew I wouldn't eat before they got old, and then some chocolate that was either too milky or I wasn't that into for another reason, and then some ends of packets of dried fruit and nuts got in there, the end of a pack of butter and a bit of coconut oil, even a few green tea biscuits (these last not entirely recommended)...

250 g / 8 oz biscuits (used mostly havrekiks = oat biscuits, recommended; and threw in a few green tea biscuits, not so recommended)
300 g / 10 oz chocolate (mix of milk and dark is OK, I favour the dark)
100 g / 3 1/2 oz butter (or margarine, or coconut oil)
150 g / 5 oz golden syrup
175 g / 6 oz dried fruit (used a mix of cranberries, chopped crystallized ginger, chopped apricots and raisins; all recommended)
60 g / 2 oz roughly chopped nuts (used a mix of pecans and hazelnuts; both recommended)

Line a 20 cm / 8 in square tin with cling film, leaving extra hanging over the edges. Put the biscuits in a bag and bash to pieces with a rolling pin.

Melt chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in a medium bowl (large enough for all ingredients) over a pan of hot water. When all is liquid and smooth, take the bowl off the heat and mix in the bashed biscuits, dried fruit and nuts. Spoon into the prepared tin and press down / level off. Let cool to room temperature, then put in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Then turn them out, peel off the cling film and cut into squares. Store in the fridge.


It is very rich so small pieces are sufficient. This makes a lot - a half quantity would be a good amount for our household. But I am thinking it should freeze well, so put about half in the freezer - let's see how that goes.

If I make this again, I think I'd try reducing the golden syrup, and using coconut oil instead of butter and less of that too - it is maybe a little too sweet for my taste; and starts to get a wee bit melty quite quickly when it comes to room temp.

Mulberry, cranberry, wheatberry, walnut

All these berries seemed so coincidental - the wheatberries, the dried berries, the pickled berries, even the berry molasses appeared just when I was about to get out the honey. I am gradually plundering my cupboardful of preserves - these juicy pickled mulberries were from the first harvest of last year. So, salad or grain, either way, this is nice.

1 cup wheatberries, cooked until tender in ~ 2 cups water
~1 tbsp white miso
~1 tbsp mulberry molasses
~2 tbsp mulberry vinegar (from the pickled mulberries, top up with red wine vinegar if you don't have enough)
~2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper
~20 pickled mulberries
~1/4 cup walnut pieces
~2 tbsp dried cranberries
~1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
~2 tsp cacao nibs (optional)

Put the wheatberries on to cook, and in the meantime prepare all the other ingredients. To make the dressing, whisk the miso, mulberry molasses, vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper together in a small bowl and taste to check balance. Put the cooked wheatberries in a serving bowl and add the dressing. Toss and let cool a little. Add the pickled mulberries, walnuts, cranberries, parsley and cacao, mix up and taste to check seasoning etc. Eat warm or cold.

Christmas: Nut loaf

Turns out S had never eaten a nut roast. So, almost as a joke, I made one for our Christmas lunch. I liked the idea of incorporating parsnips (double the Christmassiness) and when I came across this recipe I decided it was the one. I interpreted the ingredient list pretty loosely, using up various nuts etc we had lying around.

300g parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
100g walnuts
90g unsalted cashews (used mixture of cashews and almonds)
200g breadcrumbs
100g pine nuts (used mixture of slivered almonds and sunflower seeds)
~2 tsp crumbled dried rosemary
~2 tsp crumbled dried sage
~ 1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
50g cranberries (used ~2 tbsp dried sour cherries, rehydrated by soaking in ~ 2 tbsp boiling water)
1 egg (or 1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2.5 tbsp boiling water)
another ~1 tbsp olive oil

cranberry chutney or sauce (and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary or parsley) to serve

Heat the oven to 180C / 356F. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the parsnips until tender. In a frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil, add the onion and garlic and cook until softened.

Meanwhile, pulse the walnuts and cashews in a blender until roughly chopped and then mix with the breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Add the onions, garlic, pine nuts, rosemary, sage, nutmeg, sour cherries or cranberries and seasoning to the mix. Then beat in the egg.

When the parsnips are tender, drain and mash roughly with ~1 tbsp olive oil. Add the parsnip mash to the rest of the mixture. Grease a large loaf tin (and maybe line the base*), then press the mixture into it. Bake for 50-55 min, until set. Let cool for ten min, then turn out.

To serve, warm up some cranberry sauce with some added fresh cranberries (or use cranberry chutney), spoon it over the top of the nut roast, and decorate with cranberries and fresh herbs (I used two cranberries and a piece of parsley to make some kitschy-looking pretend holly.


This was really surprisingly good - deliciously crunchy around the edges but tender in the middle. Quite nutty and appetising, although the parsnips got a bit lost - another time I might mash them less or not at all. Definitely needed some sauce - luckily I had some cranberry chutney squirreled away, which was perfect (suddenly I see the point of all that preserving through Summer and Autumn - instant food in Winter!).

*I didn't grease or anything at all and it stuck to the base a little bit - not horrendously but a bit (I suspected it might, but thought I'd try the minimal effort route first). To avoid this, I'd definitely try greasing; potentially also lining the base.

Apple and fresh cranberry chutney

I remembered fresh cranberries are in season, bought a bag, and commenced experiments. Raw they are very sharp - they need some kind of sweetness or dilution. I baked: cranberry and apple crumble, cranberry and pumpkin muffins. Wanted to go somewhere savoury with the rest of the bag. Considered some ideas from the Cranberry Slam at Egleston Farmers' Market. The most interesting was somewhat complicated, with several steps including fermentation. I decided to borrow some of the flavours but just make a chutney - that way my savoury cranberry stuff would keep for a while, into times when fresh cranberries are nowhere to be found. I based it on this recipe, tweaking the spices and flavour additions.

(made 2 small jars - sensible to scale up if you have a full bag of cranberries!)

450 g apples (~ 2 large ones), peeled and chopped into chunks
135 g onions (~2 small ones), peeled and chopped or sliced
1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
~2 cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
zest of 1 little orange
1/4 tsp caraway seed
1/4 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp coriander seed
1/4 tsp mustard seed
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
75 ml cider vinegar
150 g sugar
150 g fresh cranberries
 
 Put all ingredients except the cranberries in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for ~50 min, until everything is reduced, thickened and broken down. Add the cranberries and cook for ~10 min more - try not to let them all burst. Spoon into sterilised jars, seal while hot and then let cool before labelling. Tastes best if allowed to mature for ~1 month before opening.


This looks very pretty and festive, with seeds, strands of orange zest and ruby cranberries pressed up against the glass. Haven't tasted the mature version yet but am hoping it is not too sweet.

Edit: well, it is a bit sweet (although very pink-red and pretty). The explosions of whole cranberries are really delicious, same with the spice seeds, but the background is mainly like applesauce and just a bit too sweet. Cooking apples instead of eating apples would probably be a good idea, if possible. But anyway, this did go very well with nut loaf for Christmas.

Pumpkin, cranberry, chocolate and orange muffins

I had experiments with a bag of fresh cranberries in mind - first crumble (with apples I scrumped with M the other day), then these. I based them on a pumpkin muffin recipe I'd used before, but tweaked the flavours to incorporate the chocolate, ginger and orange I wanted to be in there. It's kind of a second iteration of these ones.

(Makes 12)

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup demerera sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of salt
Zest of two little oranges
1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup fake milk
1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Mix flour, baking powder, sugars, ginger and salt in a bowl with a fork. Add orange zest and chopped chocolate and mix again. In a separate bowl beat together pumpkin puree, fake milk and oil. Add wet to dry and mix til just combined, adding the chopped cranberries in the last few strokes. Scoop the mixture into muffin cups. Bake for ~25 min, until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack.


These are great. I overcooked them slightly but the pumpkin makes them wonderfully orange in colour, the orange and ginger taste exciting, and the cranberries and chocolate are beautiful to see and insert little jewels of intensity... Yum.

Quick quinoa salad

I felt like eating quinoa. While it was cooking, I thought I may as well mix it up with some stuff to make it more interesting. This was very quick and easy - herbs from the balcony (how much longer will they last as it gets colder?), and a few other things from the pantry / fridge / freezer, all requiring minimal prep. We both really liked it - not bad for an afterthought.

1 cup quinoa, cooked in 2 cups of water
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
1/4 cup dried sour cherries (or cranberries)

Put the quinoa in a small pan with the water, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat til the quinoa is tender and the water all absorbed or evaporated (~10 min). Meanwhile, defrost the edamame (pour boiling water over), toast the pumpkin seeds and chop the herbs. Mix the dressing in a small bowl: beat together olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, mustard, honey and seasoning. When ready, transfer the cooked quinoa to a serving bowl and add the dressing. Mix thoroughly. Add the edamame, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and herbs, mix and serve.


I liked this so much I made a second round to take to the LUrC potluck last night - I thought it would be cool to make something savoury that featured some of the LUrC fruit (sour cherries). I forgot about edamame actually, so this version was just herbs, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and dressing - I only remembered just now so obviously didn't miss the beans too much! Was psyched that my parsley was still alive on the balcony despite a few -3 or -4C nights. And the chives! So, although the quinoa and other ingredients are from distant lands; the sour cherries were from Cambridge, the herbs right outside my kitchen, and the honey from a friend of S's in Brookline.

Colourful, robust winter salads

We ended up eating at / from Whole Foods quite a lot while we were out West. It was S's idea. We arrived in Vegas and had one very uninspired meal with awful service, and then he had the idea of looking for local Whole Foods (apparently his buddy who runs learning-to-play-poker courses there stocks up at Whole Foods before getting going on the poker). We found a huge one in Henderson, and that was us sorted for the next few days.

A recurring Whole Foods salad theme was mixed grains and pulses. Which put me in the mood for more on our return. Here are a couple of variants:


Giant couscous, lentils, rice, cranberries and pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup giant / Israeli couscous, cooked in 1 cup water with 1/4 tsp turmeric for colour
1/2 cup brown and/or wild rice, cooked in 1 cup water
3/4 cup brown lentils, cooked in 1 1/2 cups veg stock with a bay leaf
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
~8 salty black olives, chopped
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt+pepper
wholegrain mustard
maple syrup

Mix olive oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and seasoning in a medium bowl to make the dressing. Add the cooked, cooled couscous, rice and lentils and toss. Add the cranberries, pumpkin seeds, olives and coriander and mix up again. Taste to check seasoning / that there is enough dressing.


Massive couscous (moghrabieh), chickpeas, beetroot and sesame

3/4 cup moghrabieh, cooked in 1 cup water with 1/2 tsp turmeric for colour
1 cup chickpeas, cooked and defrosted
2-3 medium beetroot, boiled until tender, cooled and diced into ~1 cm dice
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
juice of 1/2 lime
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt+pepper

Put the pre-cooked and cooled couscous, chickpeas and chopped beetroot in a bowl, add the seeds and coriander and toss. Then add the dressing ingredients: oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt+pepper, quantities to taste (use plenty), toss and eat.

Christmas Eve turnip salad

We had dinner with a few friends on Christmas Eve. Among other things, I made a salad with small turnips. I was excited about these when Alvin dropped them off to me among other CSA goodies - I had some once before and roasted them, which was the wrong thing to do - I realised after doing it that I should have followed my gut and made salad. This latest lot were beauties: white and perfectly smooth, with lovely, green, healthy leaves. The leaves tasted lovely - slightly peppery, less so than rocket, quite similar to mizuna, also in texture (quite juicy and big, not tough in the slightest). (NB I thought the cinnamon and cranberries made it Christmassy?).

1 bunch of small (~ping pong ball sized) turnips, greens and roots separated, trimmed, washed and dried
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
salt+pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
handful pumpkin seeds, toasted
handful dried cranberries
petals of 3 agamous marigold flowers

Scrape the turnip roots if they need it, then slice them thinly. Put in a serving bowl with the lime, vinegar, oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and pepper, toss and leave while you prep the rest of the stuff. Roughly chop the turnip leaves. Right before serving, add the pumpkin seeds, cranberries, turnip leaves and marigold petals to the turnip root mixture and toss.


This was prob the best thing I made. Really into the turnip leaves and roots: both are lovely and softly peppery / crisp. And the marigolds were probably the last thing I'll harvest from the balcony this year.

Kale salad with radish and spelt

All my salads lately have involved honey-mustard dressing (+raisins+flaked almonds). It's simple and tasty and storecupboard-friendly, and if you ask me it goes with almost anything. I guess it's kind of a go-to comfort food for me: I've been somewhat distracted by preparing for my trip to Scotland. This time it was kale's turn. I've been experimenting a bit with kale salads, this time I thought I'd try it super simple. The kale and the daikon radish both came in last week's bumper CSA. The kale was listed as 'White Russian Kale', which suggests, as S pointed out, that it might taste like kahlua, vodka and cream. Not so, but it was quite nice anyway: the lobed, non-crinkly variety.

1 bunch kale, washed, leafy parts only (stripped from main stems and torn into manageable pieces)
1 cup whole spelt berries (or wheat berries)
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt+pepper
1/4 of a medium sized daikon radish, peeled and thinly sliced
small handful of golden raisins (would have liked cranberries but I was out)
small handful of flaked toasted almonds

Put the spelt on to cook (should take ~ 20 min). Prepare the kale and let it drain. Mix the dressing (mustard through salt+pepper) in a serving bowl. Add the kale and mix thoroughly, using hands to make sure all the kale is coated. Let it sit for a while to soften - at least half an hour. When ready to serve add the sliced radish, raisins and almonds and toss. Serve over the cooked spelt (or you could mix it all together before serving).


I liked this. I think this kale variety is perhaps a little better for salads than the regular crinkly stuff - with less surface area it seems to soften easier / be a bit less fibrous. Perhaps they just happened to be younger leaves, I don't know. Anyway, it definitely filled a comfort food gap for a late supper after aerials, and the crunchy peppery radish/irony green kale/sweet dried fruit/toasty crisp almonds were a pretty complete combination.

Red cabbage salad

Previous red cabbage experiments having led me to believe that raw in salad is by far the best way to eat red cabbage, more salad was definitely in order for this one.  Dried fruit, nuts, honey and mustard were calling out to be added, so I obliged.

1/2 a red cabbage, outer leaves and thick stem in the middle removed and the rest finely shredded
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp golden raisins
1 tbsp flaked toasted almonds
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put the shredded cabbage, herbs and seeds in a serving bowl.  In a small bowl, mix the remaining (dressing) ingredients and check for tastiness.  Pour the dressing over the cabbage, toss and eat.


S said he didn't think he liked red cabbage but then he really liked this, so that seems like a recommendation.  Lots of space for adaptation, as ever with this kind of recipe. 

Pumpkin, orange and fresh cranberry cornmeal muffins

When I started making the carrot and lentil soup, I started thinking about making something with the fresh cranberries we had in the fridge: something that wasn't cranberry sauce.  This is what I decided upon.

1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
zest of one large orange

Heat oven to 350F.  Mix linseed and hot water in a mixing bowl.  Beat in sugar, oil, vanilla and pumpkin.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, baking soda, ground ginger and salt, then add and mix in the orange zest.  Add pumpkin mix to dry mix and stir until just combined.  Finally, mix in the cranberries.  Spoon into a prepared muffin tin.  Bake for ~45 min, until a skewer comes out clean.


These were very good but rather sweet - more of an afternoon teatime snack than a breakfast snack.  The fresh cranberries were lovely - offsetting the sweetness somewhat with a whole lot of zing (way more zing than the pre-dried ones, although the taste was obviously similar).  I realised these were a very American combination (pumpkin, cranberries, cornmeal) - perhaps a reaction to the Scottish-ness of yesterday?

Red Cabbage

We got back from Belize / Guatemala and I was expecting a completely empty fridge.  I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to find forgotten whole red cabbage, huge butternut squash and a few baby potatoes.  This should keep us going til the weekend!  Seb made a run to TJs and so apples and onions were added to the range of possibility, along with the garlic, citrus and storecupboard already present.

I decided to tackle the red cabbage last night.  I like red cabbage a lot - the sweet/peppery, crunchy, colourful juiciness really does it for me. But I hardly ever buy it as a whole cabbage always seems like a lot to deal with.  But it had survived a few weeks in the fridge quite happily - I should really do it more...  In all it was about 3lb of cabbage so I made a couple of things with it (not least because the whole lot would have overflowed my only lidded baking dish...).


Braised red cabbage

This felt like the right thing to do - nice and wintry (almost christmassy) flavours, I'd never done it before but found the recipe in Delia's veggie collection - there is no one I'd trust more with a holiday classic when feeling a bit rusty in the kitchen than her.


2/3 a 3lb cabbage
1/2 a huge onion, chopped into small pieces
1 large apple, cored and chopped into small pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 a nutmeg, freshly grated
salt and pepper
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
~10g butter

Heat oven to 300F.

Remove and discard the outer leaves from the cabbage.  Cut the remainder into quarters and remove the hard stem.  Shred as finely as you can.  Prepare the apple and alliums.

Put a layer of cabbage into a lidded baking dish.  Add a layer of apple and onion.  Mix the garlic, sugar, spices and seasoning and then add a layer of the spice mix.  Repeat until all in.  Add the vinegar and butter, put on the lid and put in the oven.

Cook for ~ 2 1/2 hours, checking and stirring a couple of times during that time.

Red cabbage salad

1/3 a 3lb cabbage, prepared as above
1 tbsp onion, very finely chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp peanut butter
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Put the shredded cabbage, onion and cranberries into a bowl and mix.  Put the remaining ingredients into a small bowl and mix with a fork until well combined, to make the dressing.  Add the dressing to the cabbage and mix well.  Put in the fridge for a few hours or overnight so that the flavours and juices can meld.


Both are good.  For some reason I thought peanut butter, cabbage, cranberry and acid would be a good combination and they are - very more-ish.  The braised cabbage is nice and comforting and seasonal, although I love the raw texture of cabbage so much it does seem a bit of a shame to cook it.

Cranberry sauce

A quick one, in advance of Christmas:

250g cranberries
100g sugar
juice of 1 clementine, made up to 100ml with white wine
zest of 1 clementine

Put all in a small saucepan and bubble til all the berries are burst (about 10 min).  Cool a little then put into a sterilised jar. It will thicken further as is cools.  Won't keep forever but I am estimating for a few weeks in the fridge.  Haven't fully tasted it yet (although it tasted promising while cooking) - saving it for the big day!  Edit - it was excellent - see full xmas dinner notes.