Red Cabbage

Mother used to make red cabbage every year with Christmas dinner - it was a tradition and seemed to go so well with turkey but it also can go amazingly well with roast pork tenderloin. Here it is, as I recall it...

Ingredients

1 head of red cabbage
enough water to cover the cabbage in the pot
1 cup of cranberries (whole or in canned cranberry sauce)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch salt and pepper

Thinly slice the cabbage so that the bits are long, fairly thin and stringy. Cover the cabbage in a pot of water to boil and add the other ingredients. Simmer until cooked well. The cranberries will give the finished dish more of a red than a blueish tinge. Mother liked that better!

This can also be used cold as a garnish for open faced sandwiches.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 english cucumber
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt and pepper

Peel the cucumber and slice it into very, very thin slices. Mix the vinegar, sugar, water and salt and pepper together in bowl. Place the slices in the bowl with the wet ingredients and then place a weighted down (mother used a small stone) plate over top of, and resting on, the cucumber slices overnight in the fridge.

Use as a garnish for open faced sandwiches or as a salad side with dinner. Adjust the sweetness or tartness to your own preferences. You can use artificial sweetener if you wish to replace the sugar.

Frikadeller - Lean Pork Burgers

Ingredients

one pound ground pork (ground tenderloin is the leanest )
one medium onion finely chopped
one egg
pinch salt
pepper to taste
pinch of garlic powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and form into thick patties
Grill on flat grill until cooked through.

Serve hot with small roast potatoes, green, garden fresh, beans, cucumber salad (see recipe) and light gravy or serve cold, sliced thinly, on open face rye bread sandwiches (smorrebrod) garnished with cooked red cabbage (see recipe) or sliced pickled beets.