Braised Red Cabbage and Apples

I made this dish to go along with the pork chops I posted yesterday. I'd been meaning to make it for a couple weeks, and I finally had something to make it with.

For this recipe I used:
3-4 tbsp. butter (Fannie says to use bacon fat, if you have it)
2 tbsp. organic sugar
1/2 c. chopped onion (about 1 small)
3-4 c. thinly sliced red cabbage (Fannie says 2 lbs, but if you don't have a scale, 4 c. seems to work well. She also says to use shredded cabbage, but I had WAY too much going on with the pork chops to spend hours grating cabbage. I recommend cutting the head in half, then slicing thinly with a bread knife).
2 c. tart apples, sliced thinly (again, peel unless using organic apples. I had a bunch of apples from my mom's tree that were tiny, so I used about 8. But if using apples from the store, probably 2).
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. red wine (Fannie says dry, but I have some sweet cooking wine, so that's what I used).
1/2 c. water
1/8 tsp. cayenne
Salt to taste

• Add butter and sugar to skillet and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add the onion and cook until golden
• Add cabbage, apples, vinegar, wine, and cayenne
• Cover and cook 10 minutes on low
• Add water and replace lid, leaving it slightly ajar.
• Cook 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally

This worked out pretty well for me. I was running around in a panic as I cooked this, pork chops, and beer bread all at once, but somehow, I only ended up needing to work on one at a time. The sugar and butter sort of crystallized, but as I continued cooking, it melted again. I stirred the mixture about every five to ten minutes, whenever I had a minute between checking other things. It started sticking around the 25 minute mark, so I had to turn it off. I left it covered for the last 5 minutes, and it was cooked enough. Unfortunately, when I uncovered the pork chops at this point, they had not fared as well.

This dish was pretty good. I'm not sure I'd make it again on an average night, but it was decent. It didn't magically transform the veggies into french fries, but it went well with the apple pork chops I made it with. I'd make it again if I had something that needed a fancied-up vegetable. But I'll probably just stick with steaming the cabbage and adding a little butter and salt most of the time.