Most-Delicious Crunchy Coleslaw Salad with Tangy-Sweet Dressing

Darien Telephone Company's Phenomenal Book

One of my favorite cookbooks around (besides Coralie's Mom's Awesome Cookbook: Mary Made It, of course) is  "Something To Talk About: Simply Coastal Cooking" from The The Darien Telephone Company in Darien, Georgia. The only thing better than the food in McIntosh County, Georgia is the people. Two or three of my hands-down favorite recipes come from this book and I am so pleased to share one of my most requested recipes ever.

The recipe is for "Coleslaw Salad" but I want to add a thousand words to that title to further convey its awesomeness. Because it is. When I think of coleslaw, I normally grimace... because I've had some bad coleslaw in my life. Everyone has been to that barbeque/picnic where there is a plastic container of something that is a white, mayonaissey soup with shredded cabbage.And for that reason, I think coleslaw sometimes gets a bad wrap. I mean, when done properly, mayonnaise-based coleslaw is a thing of beauty... but, again... we've all been to that barbeque.

Oh, man... I'm so excited to share this with you. I'm calling it, CRUNCHY COLESLAW with TANGY/SWEET DRESSING. I know a lot of people in my life who aren't big fans of vegetables... and even THEY eat this salad. It's great for summer parties, Wednesday-dinner sidedish, you name it.      

Ingredients:

-1 (3-ounce) package of chicken-flavor ramen noodles
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-3 tablespoons cider vinegar
-2 tablespoons sugar
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-1/4 teaspoon of pepper
-3 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup sliced almonds
-2 tablespoon sunflower kernals
-1 large head cabbage, shredded, or 1 (16-ounce) package shredded cabbage
-1/2 cup sliced green onions         

This recipe is really broken up into two parts- the crunchy portion of the salad and the dressing. If you aren't feeling ambidexterous you can make the dressing, then toast your crunchy ingredients, and then make the fresh greens portion of the salad... OR, if you love a challenge, you can do all three at the same time through a carefully orchestrated dance that maximizes time effeciency. Because sometimes you need a great dish quickly.



Is there anything better than butter?

First, put the 3 Tbls. of butter into a wide pan over a medium-low heat. ("6" on my range) After most of the butter has melted, begin putting crunchy component (almonds, sunflower seeds, and crushed noodles from the ramen noodle packet) into the sauce pan. *Tip* I always open a small section from the end seams of the noodle packet and gently crush the noodles IN the package. It just keeps the mess at a minimum. Now, as soon as the dry, crunchy ingredients get covered in melted butter you have about eight to ten minutes of toasting before they start to get burned.



Thin layer of crunchy goodness, sauteed frequently.

 Make sure the crunchy ingredients are spread-out as you sautee, breaking up any larger clusters of ramen noodles with the butt of your spatula. While you are stirring this mix frequently, almost obsessively, you can make your dressing. But, always ALWAYS watch this mix. Because when it starts to burn, it happens quickly. So, while its toasting, grab a mason jar and combine the dressing components (oil, cider vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and the most secretest of ingredients- the chicken flavoring packet from the ramen noodles). Deal with it. Tighten lid on mason jar and shake ingredients together. Set aside. You've been watching your crunchy stuff, right?

I know you have, because you're awesome. After six or seven minutes, you'll begin to notice that the almonds are starting to subtly toast. Use this as your index on doneness of your noodles. Here you can do one of two things: if your noodles look golden brown, take them immedietely off the heat and spread in a thin layer on a paper-towel covered plate to soak excess oil from component. It also slows the toasting process... which is key, as it can burn quickly. Can't state that enough. If you've made your dressing and the noodles and almonds are still the same color as when you put them in, continue to sautee mixture in butter, and cut your green onions.

 

 Now that all components are assembled, you can either mix them all together if you are serving immedietly or store the components seperately while you are traveling or until you are ready to serve. As soon as you add the dressing to the crunchy mixture, the crunch of the noodles are on a time clock. They'll stay crunchy for about an hour, once mixed, but can be stored and assembled at the event for maximum crunch. I've known some people who LOVE this salad soggy- like put it between slices of bread/LOVE this salad. I'm its biggest fan of it crunchy, but to each his own!

 

A friend of mine has a "deep-fry" party every year for his birthday- everyone brings something to deep fry- the wilder the better. I brought this salad as a palate cleanser and some needed ruffage. I carried the coleslaw bag, the crunch mixture, and the green onion in a tupperware container. Got to the party and assembled on site. I took a picture of it too late as it was almost consumed by the time I got my camera. Which, I guess, is a pretty awesome indicator of how great this it.

 

Crunchy and Crisp! Delicious and GONE.

 



   Thanks for reading, and good luck!

                                                    ~ Leigh

Brine Thy Swine!

There are some tricks to making sure that your meats are tasty when you sit down to eat them. Just like you marinate chicken, you need to brine your pork. Bub is the one that taught me this business about brining swine and he learned it from his brother-in-law. Bub makes the best ribs. Hands down. (More on that later) And he always brines them overnight.

So, I applied the same principle to pork chops. Here's the deal with making a brine. It has always got to have vinegar of some sort in it. And then all the rest is just extra. Milk also helps make the meat more tender. For my brine I used

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp garlic
• 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning (yes, I know.)
• salt and pepper

Pour all this in a zip loc with your pork chops and let it chill for several hours.

When I get ready to cook them, I take them straight out and proceed with it- either to the grill or cast iron skillet or oven or whatever. In this instance, they went on the grill.

Sweet Potato Casserole- Good for Your Soul.

If I could, I would eat sweet potato casserole every day of my life. I love it. Let me be clear though, I am not talking about the one with marshmallows. You can keep those marshmallows! I am talking about the one with the brown sugar/ butter/ flour and sometimes pecan topping.

Used to, I got it twice a year: Thanksgiving and Christmas. But all that changed when I took an interest in cooking and figured out that it is really not that hard to make. So now, we have it once every 6 weeks or so- I think that is often enough to not feel deprived and yet not so often that having it looses its special-ness. Also, I have to say, being as it's my favorite I know a good sweet potato casserole when I taste it: they are not all created equal. My Moma's recipe is one of the best and it really is easy to make (and it's in her cookbook).

There are two parts to the recipe, the sweet potatoes and the topping. Here is a list of all the ingredients for the sweet potatoes.

• 6 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes 
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter 

and for the topping

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Now, I would like to speak on what to do to get your sweet potatoes cooked and mashed. You can used canned but fresh is better and you can boil them, but baked is better. What my Moma does (and what I do) is line a cookie sheet with foil and bake them on 400 F until they are soft. Depending on how many you are cooking, depends on how long it takes. I usually bake a bunch of them, mash them and freeze the extra. Once they are baked, the skins will just peel off much easier than peeling them with a potato peeler. And also, they need to be pureed in a food processor so that the strings in them are destroyed.

Once you have your sweet potatoes pureed in the food the processor, combine all the sweet potato ingredients being mindful that if you put eggs in hot sweet potato puree you will have a mess, so let them cool a bit before you combine them. Once combined place the mixture in a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex.

For Bub and I, I halved the recipe and put it in Corning ware. And then I mixed up the sweet potato casserole topping. This time, I left out the pecans- trust me, either way, it's excellent!

And sprinkled it on top. I did not half the topping recipe because I like a lot!

Cook it on 350 F for 30 minutes or until the topping is nice and brown (rather than tan).

Yum! Enjoy!

So, here's the recipe in full:

• 6 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes 
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup)

Puree sweet potatoes in a food processor and combine all ingredients and place in a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex. Combine the following ingredients and crumble on top of casserole. Bake on 350 F for 30 minutes.

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Wait for it... Mac n' Cheese Casserole

Ok, confession time... Kraft Mac n' Cheese in the blue box is my all time favorite mac n' cheese. I am not saying that others are not tasty, I am just saying I love the stuff in the blue box.

I have never made homemade mac n' cheese until now. Again, I was trolling through my mom's cookbook looking for something tasty to make and she has sworn that her mac n' cheese casserole was divine- better than the blue box stuff. Honestly, comparing the blue box mac n' cheese to home-made mac n' cheese is like comparing a Granny Smith Apple to a Golden Delicious Apple- alike in some ways but waaaay different in others. None-the-less, I decided to give her mac n' cheese casserole recipe a whirl.

The ingredients are as follows: 

• 16 ounces of uncooked macaroni
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of mayo
• 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1.5 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
• 1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted

(I shop at Sam's Club and buy certain things in bulk- yep, like Kraft mac n' cheese in the blue box, so for this recipe, I used the noodles and saved the cheese packets for later.)

Cook your macaroni according to the directions and drain.

 While the macaroni is cooking, mix together the mayo, cream of chicken, cheese and salt and pepper.

  Then combine the noodles with the cheese mixture and pour into a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex.

Put your Ritz crackers in a Zip Loc Bag and crush them and add your melted stick of butter and mash it all together.

And cover the casserole with them and put it in the oven on 350 F for 30 minutes.

And then, drum roll please.... 

Oh, it's good! It's real good. It's the best home-made macaroni and cheese I've ever had. There is simply no comparison between this and the blue box. This is divine. I have just one thing to say about this recipe, it is enough for Pharaoh AND his army. When this came out of the oven, Bub was standing there and his eyes got real big and he asked when everybody was coming over because we had a ton of mac n cheese! Next time, I'll only be cutting the recipe in half. 

Macaroni & Cheese Casserole:

• 16 ounces of uncooked macaroni
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of mayo
• 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1.5 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
• 1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted

Cook the macaroni according to directions, drain and set aside. Combine the next 4 ingredients and then fold in the macaroni and pour into a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex. Crush the Ritz and mix with the butter and pour over the casserole. Cook for 30 minutes on 350 F.

Rise and Shine & Get Your Sausage Casserole On!

Breakfast is important! Some mornings I can't get breakfast ready fast enough. Breakfast is important because it gets your metabolism kicking- and who doesn't want their metabolism kicking?! But, here's the deal: Bub's work week schedule is never the same. He may go to work at 8AM one day and 2PM the next- so, some days it's no sweat to get up and make breakfast; others not so much. This week was one of those weeks where he had to be at work fairly early most of the week. Getting up at 5:30AM to cook him breakfast... wellllll, that just isn't going to happen. That does not mean I do not want him to have a good breakfast though- so, I decided to cook a breakfast casserole at night that he could just warm up the next morning.

It is at this time that I must confess a little something. My Moma just published a cookbook with basically all the recipes from my childhood and her catering career. It is much like a treasure trove of recipes. I have always had access to the the recipes but not like this- not all in one place, nice and neat. So, I have been trying my hand at the dishes in Moma's cookbook.

So, when Bub told me he'd be working a bunch of early mornings this week, I knew it was time to try out the Sausage, Egg & Cheese Breakfast casserole

Are you wondering why I wrote in the book? I always take notes in cookbooks or any book for that matter- it goes back to my English major days. In cookbooks I take note of things like if it needs more sauce, how good it is or if you can make substitutions. In this case, the directions say to let it chill in the fridge over night and then set it out on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking it for 45 minutes. Uh, back to getting up at 5:30AM to cook breakfast- yeah, no. So, I noted that this could be made in the morning, let chill in the fridge all day, cooked after super and then Bub could heat a piece in the morning.

This recipe only calls for 5 ingredients- it's super easy and super delish too.

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups half & half
• 6 slices of white bread, crust off and cubed
• 2 cups of cheese

First thing, brown your sausage

and while that's happening, cut the crusts of your bread off and cut it into cubes

and combine your 6 eggs and 2 cups of half & half

Here is another bit of advice, when you are reviewing applications and interviewing for sous chefs, make sure to ask if they are well rested because they are not much help when they sleep on the job!

Anyway, once you have browned your sausage, cubed your bread and beaten and combined your eggs and half & half. Spray a 9 x 13 pyrex with cooking spray and spread your bread cubes on the bottom, cover that with the sausage and the sausage with the cheese and finally pour your egg mixture over the entire thing.

Cover it and let it chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours or over night.

Then, when you get ready to cook it set it out on the counter for 30 minutes. I let it set out while the oven was preheating to 350F. Cook it for 45-55 minutes. It will puff up around the edges and then in the middle, and when it puffs up in the middle, you will know it's fully cooked.

It smelled so good coming out of the oven! And although we didn't eat it until the next morning- it was still very tasty!

To recap, here is the entire recipe:

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups of cheese
• 2 cups of half & half
• 6 slices of bread, crust removed and cubed

Brown and drain the sausage. Combine the eggs and half & half. Cut the crust off the bread and cube it. Spray the bottom of a 9 x 13 pyrex and spread the bread cubes on the bottom with the sausage and cheese layered on top. Pour the egg mixture over it all, cover the pyrex and put it in your fridge overnight (or all day). When you are ready to cook it, let it sit out for 30 minutes while your oven heats to 350 F. Cook it for 45-50 minutes.