Beer-Braising for Philly Beer Week

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Mar 9th 2009 @ 9:01AM

It's Beer Week here in Philadelphia, and while I'm not a huge beer drinker, the city-wide brew celebration has got me thinking about ways to incorporate beer into my cooking (we've also got a surfeit of beer around the apartment, leftover from a recent birthday/engagement party, that needs to be used). One of the tastiest applications for beer I've found recently is in beer braised cabbage.

Before I made beer braised cabbage for the first time, I searched the internet a bit, looking for some inspiration as well as confirmation that the recipe I was forming in my head was on the right track. I found a post by Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, in which she braises cabbage with gluten-free beer, and determined that my internal recipe was just about on. A few tweaks and I started cooking. The resultant cabbage was delicious and was an excellent foil for some beer braised brisket (I'm on something of a beer braising kick at the moment). This cabbage would be great St. Patrick's Day side dish, served up with corned beef and boiled potatoes (as well as a nice bottle of Guinness).

Recipe after the jump.

Beer Braised Cabbage

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, cut into thin half-moons
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 bottles of beer (I used Yuengling Lager)
1/4 cup of honey
1 large head of cabbage, shredded
2 teaspoons of salt
6-7 grinds of black pepper

In a 5-6 quart pot (a soup pot works, but a Dutch oven is better), melt the butter over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble and brown just slightly, add the onions. Allow them to brown (5-6 minutes). Then add the caraway seeds, so that they toast a bit (it helps to develop their flavor a bit).

When the bits of onion on the bottom of the pot have turned dark brown, add the two bottles of beer and the honey. Stir together, bring to a gentle boil and then reduce the heat a bit. Allow it to simmer for a few minutes, to reduce the beer/honey mixture and help it get a bit syrup-y.

Once the beer has reduced, add the cabbage. If it fills the pot to the brim, don't worry, just jam it all in there. Put a lid on it and allow the heat to wilt the cabbage. Turn the cabbage with tongs every 2-3 minutes, to help the cabbage cook. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes, until the volume of cabbage has reduced by approximately half.

Filed Under: Ingredients, Drink Recipes
Tags: beer, beer braised cabbage, BeerBraisedCabbage, philly beer week, PhillyBeerWeek, st patricks day, StPatricksDay, vegetables