073 / 75 · Pour, crunch and give
Apple–Cabbage Mustard Relish with Cheddar Oat Buttons
8 appetizer portions of relish, approximately 60–70 g each, plus 32 cheddar oat buttons, 4 per portion · Active 50 min · Cook 30 min · Total 3 hr 25 min
Print recipe · PDFThis is a cabbage-and-apple relish for eating now, with enough mustard to make small cheese crackers useful. The cheddar oat buttons are baked alongside it and counted into the kit. No one has to guess whether a jar of condiment is meant to feed two people or a whole table.
Cook down, then cool
The cabbage should be completely tender and the apple softened into it. Vinegar and mustard give flavor, but they do not turn this into a canning recipe. Shallow cooling containers are part of making a fresh relish that can arrive cold.
Buttons that can carry a spoonful
The crackers are pressed rather than rolled and recut. Weigh 32 pieces from the whole dough, flatten them evenly and keep their centers baked through. Four buttons per guest carry several small tastes of relish without an extra bread basket.
Ingredients
- 300 g washed cabbage, core removed, finely shredded
- 200 g washed apple, peeled and cored, cut into 5 mm pieces
- 100 g onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 15 ml olive oil
- 60 ml cider vinegar
- 30 g fine sugar
- 25 g smooth Dijon mustard
- 6 g fine salt, divided
- 1 g caraway seeds
- 100 g plain rolled oats
- 80 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g mature cheddar, finely grated
- 55 g cold unsalted butter, diced
- 40 ml pasteurized milk
- 1 g finely ground black pepper
Set out
Digital scales, Large lidded sauté pan of at least 2.5 L, Knife and board, Food processor or grinder for the oats, Mixing bowl, Two lined baking trays with usable flat areas of at least 40 × 30 cm, Oven with two usable shelves, Cooling racks, Two shallow lidded 400 ml containers for relish, Airtight box for 32 buttons, Serving bowl and spoon, Food thermometer, Ice-packed cooler, Fork for pricking the dough pieces
Allergens
Milk, Wheat, Mustard. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). In the sauté pan, soften the onion in the oil over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, apple, vinegar, sugar, caraway and 4 g of the salt. Cover and cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring twice. Uncover and cook for about 10 minutes more, until fully tender and little free liquid remains. Stir in all the mustard off the heat.
- While the relish cooks, grind the oats to a coarse flour. Mix them with the wheat flour, remaining 2 g salt and pepper. Rub in all the butter, then stir in the cheddar and milk. Press together to form a firm dough; there is no extra rolling flour.
- Weigh the whole dough and divide it into 32 equal pieces, about 12 g each. Press each on the lined trays into a round approximately 4 cm across and 7 mm thick. Put 16 on each tray in a four-by-four arrangement with at least 2 cm gaps. Prick each once with a fork.
- Bake both trays for 18–22 minutes, swapping shelves halfway through, until golden underneath and dry at the centers. Cool a test button before breaking it; if doughy, bake 3–5 minutes more. Cool all buttons fully on racks.
- Spread the cooked relish between the two shallow containers and cool for about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until 40°F (4°C) or colder. Pack the cooled buttons in their separate airtight box.
- Serve the whole relish as eight equal portions, about 60–70 g each depending on reduction, with four buttons per portion. Do not add cheese cubes, fruit slices or extra mustard at the gathering.
Bring it
Carry the two shallow relish containers in the cooler and the dry buttons in their separate protected box. Include a serving bowl and spoon, ingredient list and preparation date. Keep at 40°F (4°C) or colder in an ice-packed cooler and at the gathering. Count all time out of cold control during packing, transport and display together: no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C).
Finish at the gathering
Ready to open and serve cold in about 3 minutes. Count four buttons for each of eight portions; the host supplies no extra vehicle or cooking time.
Make it yours
The cabbage-apple kit suits a winter shared lunch or an all-year cheese-and-soup gathering. Present it as a freshly cooked relish, never a preserved pantry gift.
Ingredient labels
Cheddar, butter and milk supply Milk; flour supplies Wheat; Dijon supplies Mustard. Check oat and mustard labels for other gluten-containing grains and added allergens. The crackers are not certified gluten free.
A useful detail
The 205-minute plan allows 30 minutes for preparation and dough shaping, 30 for the relish while the 22-minute cracker bake overlaps, 20 to cool, 120 to chill and 5 to pack. Active work is about 50 minutes including cooking and shaping. Start the relish first and use two oven shelves; a sequential cracker bake or further reduction extends the plan.
Another way
- Replace the 1 g caraway with 1 g fennel seeds for a different savory note. The relish remains a fresh refrigerated food.
- Use 100 g prepared washed pear instead of half the 200 g apple; cook until both fruits and the cabbage are fully tender. Keep the complete cracker kit unchanged.
Keep it well
Refrigerate relish for up to 3 days; it is not canned or pantry stable. Keep completely cooled buttons separately airtight in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days for best texture.