Beef and red cabbage sandwich

I am not very well acquainted with red cabbage nor understand its versatility. However, its vibrant purple seems to brim with goodness and possibly endless antioxidents. Instead of the usual lettuce or watercress , I marry the red cabbage and beef on my sandwich. This sandwich is supposed to taste a bit on the tart side but I have used brown sugar to cut the tartness in the relish.

Remember to nuke the red cabbage to rid its raw smell and prevent the leaves from cooking by running it under cold water. Finally, spin dry before adding the condiments. An extra bit of effort but makes a lot of difference to the final character of the relish.

Of course, the best reason for making this sandwich for dinner is that all these can be prepared hours in advance. It's one of those no sweat dinner where all I have to do is to construct my dinner on a plate and serve immediately.

For 4.

Red cabbage relish :
2 cups of red cabbage, thinly shredded
1 T brown sugar or more, if preferred
5T balsamic vinegar
5T olive oil
1 pinch gourmet salt

Beef :
500g beef shoulder
1 star anise
3 cloves
Lashings of olive oil
1 pinch gourmet salt

Spread :
Honey Mustard and herbs ( I use Masterfoods ) or any form of your favourite mustard sauce

Whole meal sliced bread or any bread of your choice, 8 pieces.

Method :
Red cabbage relish :
Nuke the cabbage for 1 minute in the microwave and rinse immediately. Spin dry on a salad spinner.
Toss with brown sugar, vinegar, olive. If you prefer it to be more tart, give generous lashings of vinegar. Temper relish with more sugar if you favor a sweeter relish.
Chill for at least 4 hours.

Beef :
Set slow cooker to auto mode. Place seasoned beef (with salt and pepper), star anise, cloves on the slow cooker and let it cook until fork tender. This should take about 4 hours. Beef leeches out juice so there is no worry about the slow cooker drying out , in auto mode. If you are not at ease, add 1 tablespoon of water to kick start the braising process. Shred meat with a fork when you are ready to serve.

Assembly :
Toast sliced bread and spread with a thin layer of mustard. Assemble sandwich with relish and meat.
Serve immediately.