Peaches and pecans in coleslaw? Outtasight good.

I just adore coleslaw of any stripe, so when I found out I could make it with the additions of peaches and pecans, I was thrilled.

In my frequent summer dilemma of what to do with the peach crop, a recipe that used several peaches in a slaw-type setting was welcome indeed.

The magazine article that featured Peach-Ginger Slaw showed them served alongside homemade Hush Puppies. So we HAD to have Hush Puppies as an accompaniment. The only thing else I needed in this summertime tableau was a red-and-white-checked cloth. CHECK! I have my grandmother’s 70-year-old vintage one, with colors just as perky as they were in her day. This cloth of many memories was the perfect backdrop for serving these two treats.  

The addition of peach slices seemed to mellow out the tanginess of the slaw dressing. The nuts crunched up the mixture. A summer delight, just as I figured it would be.

Peach-Ginger Slaw

1 cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons pepper jelly

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1/3 cup canola oil

1 (16-ounce) package shredded coleslaw mix

2 large fresh peaches, unpeeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 10 to 12 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Stir halfway through. Cool completely (about 10 minutes). Meanwhile, microwave jelly in a large microwave-safe bowl at high 15 seconds. Whisk in vinegar and next 2 ingredients until all are blended. Gradually add canola oil in a slow, steady stream. Whisk constantly until mixture is well blended. Add coleslaw mix and toss gently. Gently stir in peaches. Stir in pecans; add salt or salt substitute to taste. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 8 hours. Stir in pecans and salt to taste just before serving. (Source: Southern Living, July 2012)

Broccoli, glazed pecans make tasty coleslaw toss-ins

“This is the best slaw I’ve ever tasted.” Hubby is forever long on effusive superlatives, but I knew he truly meant this one when over the weekend he bypassed several eat-out dinner possibilities just so he could return home to put some of this Broccoli Slaw with Candied Pecans on his plate.

The recipe featured broccoli florets, coleslaw mix, golden raisins, a mayo/red wine vinegar dressing, and the crowning touch—roasted glazed pecan pieces.

It offered a healthy crunch, a smooth dressing, and pecan sweetness—definitely a unique coleslaw.
Gone too soon, Hubby murmured. I agreed.

Broccoli Slaw with Candied Pecans

1 pound fresh broccoli

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/3 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/2 small head napa cabbage, thinly sliced, or 1 (16-ounce) package coleslaw mix

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 (3.5-ounce package) roasted glazed pecan pieces

Cut broccoli florets from stems; use a small paring knife to separate florets into small pieces. Peel away tough outer layer of stems. Finely chop stems. In a large bowl whisk together mayonnaise and next 6 ingredients. Add cabbage, raising, and broccoli; stir to coat. Cover and chill 1 hour. Just before you serve this, stir in pecans. Makes 6 servings. (Source: Southern Living June 2012).

Spicy slaw and tangy chicken make a great summer kick-off

I’m not sure I recall a time in which I’ve cooked my way through an entire magazine, but for some reason each and every recipe in one recent issue has been a standout. I’d start to file it away in my plastic magazine-keeper, but then some lone, unprepared food item would call to me. I’d have to give in.

This is what happened with today’s featured item, Hot Sauce Fried Chicken with Pickled Okra Slaw. Not my kind of thing, I mused as I’d flip by it time after time on my way to look up another selection. Pretty soon, however, everything else in my February 2012 issue of Southern Living got crossed off the “been-there-cooked-that” list. I kept studying the picture of the crispy golden chicken with its colorful side. Well, I do love coleslaw, I finally reckoned. Adding sliced pickled okra to the chopped cabbage sounded as though it was the most novel of proposals.

Ultimately I gave in. I’ll have to say that, to begin with, this was just a superb way to prepare fried chicken. Rolling the chicken breast first in the seasoned flour, then in the egg/hot sauce mixture, and then in the crushed saltine crackers with baking powder added made for a wonderfully crunchy crust that really adhered to the chicken. This was absolutely delicious either warm or cold. The next day I yanked a piece straight from the fridge and didn’t even give the first thought about microwaving it. Great chicken.

The slaw with the pickled okra truly was unique; the spicy-ness of the okra paired well with the chicken’s (hot-sauce-induced) tangy crust.

Hot Sauce Fried Chicken with Pickled Okra Slaw

6 (4-ounce) chicken breast cutlets

1 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided (or salt substitute)

3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

30 saltine crackers, crushed

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1/3 cup hot sauce

peanut oil

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

1/2 teaspoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 (16-ounce) package shredded coleslaw mix

1/2 cup sliced pickled okra

1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimiento, drained

Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place 1/2 cup flour in a shallow dish. Stir together cracker crumbs, baking powder, and remaining 3/4 cup flour in a second shallow dish. In a third shallow dish whisk together eggs and hot sauce. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cracker mixture. Press to adhere all to chicken. Pour oil to a depth of 1 inch into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet; heat to 360 degrees. Fry half of chicken 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and fry 2 to 3 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and done. Repeat procedure with remaining half of chicken. Stir together sour cream, sugar, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss together coleslaw mix, pickled okra, diced pimiento, and sour-cream mixture. As you serve, drizzle additional hot sauce around chicken and slaw. Makes 6 servings.

Fresh apples, lemon perk up traditional coleslaw recipe

The huge bushel basket of apples (both of the cooking and eating variety) seems to be getting no smaller. I brought it home from our recent farm-stand visit and have used numerous apples for dishes as well as have given several away, but the pile seems to be enlarging! So once again I’m on the hunt for apple recipes—not a bad position to be in, since the apple is the signature fruit of fall.

This recipe for Lemon-Apple Coleslaw from myrecipes.com is an enjoyable mixture that is a cross between traditional slaw and apple-laden Waldorf Salad. Tossing apples and lemon rind into the traditional shredded carrots/cabbage mixture brought delightful results. I love the apple-y crunch that the apple addition brings. With the use of a food processor to do the chopping, this slaw gets done fast. Chilling for 1 hour before you serve is recommended for the dressing to permeate. 

My food-processor blade chopped up the veggies fairly fine; the photo that appeared with the online recipe showed the cabbage and carrots in longer shreds than mine turned out. This is an appearance-only matter; to me, the flavor of the finely ground carrots and cabbage (with the apples still left in fairly large chunks, skin on) was smooth and tangy.  

I’ve never met a variety of coleslaw I didn’t like. I was happy to have this one (which myrecipes.com says appeared in Southern Living in Feburary 2005) to add to my idea stash.

Lemon-Apple Coleslaw

1 small cabbage, shredded (8 cups)

2 apples, chopped (I used the Golden Delicious from my barrel of mixed varieties)

2 carrots, shredded

1/3 cup mayonnaise (I used the lite variety)

1 tablespoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl combine cabbage, apples, and carrots. Whisk together mayonnaise and next 6 ingredients; toss with cabbage mixture. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Apples make delightful, healthy addition to fall-like Carrot Salad

No coincidence that my spotting a clever new recipe for Carrot Salad, a staple I enjoyed in my childhood, and frequent drives past the setting for that enjoyment--the Casa Linda Shopping Center in Dallas--occurred within the same week.

Hubby and I motored by this east Dallas treasure--in my growing-up days known as Casa Linda Plaza and once home of the revered Wyatt's Cafeteria--on the way to the Dallas hospital which housed our newborn grandbaby.

No, August, did not turn out to be Baby Month as we expected. That little guy, with a mind of his own, must have decided that August was just too hot and that he'd wait until September, that great fall harbinger, to make his entrance.

But once September swept in, Precious Grandboy did, too. As Hubby and I blitzed past Casa Linda (now home of the revitalized Highland Park Cafeteria, a successor to the beloved Wyatt's of former day) to get to our many hospital visits, I again recalled to Hubby the story of my dining on carrot salad there so often that my hair could have turned orange.

Lo and behold, what should appear before me that same week but a delightful new recipe for Carrot Salad--not mimicking the cafeteria legend but an enjoyable one nevertheless. I was drawn to this recipe, featured in my "Celebrating a Healthy Harvest" cookbook from the Chickasaw Nation, because it featured grated apples along with the standard carrots and cabbage. Resembling coleslaw, on preparation this dish immediately was tasty but became even more delectable after it marinated for about eight hours.

Apple days and more apple days are ahead of us. (What says autumn--especially September--more appropriately than does a shiny red apple?) My apple recipes already are getting a dusting off as I shelve my summer recipe binder and replace it with the one that says "fall".

Besides apple crisp and apple cobbler and some of the more expected apple-based menu items, I was happy to find apples in this most unexpected place--"healthening" up Carrot Salad.

Carrot Salad

2 red delicious apples, grated

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 pound carrots, raw, shredded

8 cups cabbage, shredded

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

Put the oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, and oregano in a screw-top jar. In a large bowl sprinkle the grated apples with the lemon juice; toss to coat. Add carrot and cabbage; mix thoroughly. Shake the dressing, pour over the salad, and toss well. Chill and serve. Makes 4-6 servings.