Cajun Coleslaw

I really like coleslaw.  I'm not sure what it is about crunchy cabbage in sauce, but it is so yummy to me. Our friend's in Maryland introduced us to Duck Dynasty.  I have heard of it, but had never had a reason to watch it truthfully.  I tend to swear off all reality TV.  We watched with them and we were hooked. I love the funny antics in each episode and the redneck premise of the show.  For dinner I decided to channel my inner Southern and cook a Louisiana inspired meal to eat while we watched Duck Dynasty for our Friday night movie.  The first part of our Louisiana feast was coleslaw, not just your average sweet coleslaw from KFC, I chose a spicy Cajun coleslaw instead.  My husband and I love flavor, and he agreed this was a very good coleslaw.  This recipe is best served the next day.  If you give the flavors a day to really develop, your tatse-buds will be rewarded I promise.  Our dinner also included biscuits and blackened catfish, so stay tuned for the catfish in the next post.

 This is what coleslaw should be.

Ingredients:

1 small head of Cabbage
1 small head of Red Cabbage
2 Yellow Onions
1 Lemon
5 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Spicy Brown Mustard
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 tablespoons Ketchup
3 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

 Whisk mustard and mayonnaise together in a very large bowl.

 Add hot sauce and whisk until thickened. 

 Add ketchup and whisk until thickened.

 Add salt and and garlic powder, whisk.

 Add red wine vinegar, juice the lemon into sauce and whisk.

 This beautiful sauce will accompany the cabbage and bring it to perfection.

 Peel, cut onions in half, and slice thinly.

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, rinse, cut in half, and cut the core out.

 Slice cabbage thinly.

 Repeat process with the red cabbage.

 Add cabbage, and onions to large bowl with sauce.  Stir and refrigerate for at least a day.

Enjoy!

Cajun Coleslaw

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

1 small head of Cabbage

1 small head of Red Cabbage

2 Yellow Onions

1 Lemon

5 tablespoons Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Spicy Brown Mustard

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons Ketchup

3 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

Process:

Whisk mustard and mayonnaise together in a very large bowl.

Add hot sauce and whisk until thickened. 

Add ketchup and whisk until thickened.

Add salt and and garlic powder, whisk.

Add red wine vinegar, juice the lemon into sauce and whisk.

This beautiful sauce will accompany the cabbage and bring it to perfection.

Peel, cut onions in half, and slice thinly.

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, rinse, cut in half, and cut the core out.

Slice cabbage thinly.

Repeat process with the red cabbage.

Add cabbage, and onions to large bowl with sauce.  Stir and refrigerate for at least a day.

Enjoy!

Golubtsi

My sister-in-law Rachelle, asked me if I was going to make a Russian recipe in honor of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and actually, I had thought about it.  This recipe according to Natasha of Natasha's Kitchen is a classic Russian/Ukrainian dish. This morning was exciting, when I went shopping for this recipe.  I felt like a New Yorker.  I still couldn't get my van out of the ice and snow, so I took my son to preschool on the MTA bus.  Thankfully the butcher shop I have chosen to go to is just down the street from the preschool.  I came prepared, wearing a backpack for my shopping trip.  I went to the butcher and asked for the meat needed for tonight's and tomorrow's dinner.  It was fun watching the butcher prepare the meat.  He was very nice.  After I went to the butcher, I went down the street to a grocery store next to the train station and bought the other ingredients for my Russian inspired meal.  I needed to go to the train and refill my MetroCard before I could go home.  It was cold, but I loved filling my backpack and walking around town like a true New Yorker.  On we go to the recipe.  Golubtsi is basically Russian stuffed cabbage.

 It tasted really good.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 small head of cabbage, 1 1/2 cups carrots, 1/2 lb. ground pork,
1/2 lb. ground turkey, 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce ( I used homemade, recipe found here), 4 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons butter(not pictured), 4 tablespoons olive
oil (not pictured), 1 egg, and 1 1/2 tablespoons salt.

Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit

Fill stock pot with water 2/3 full.  Add vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt to water.   Cover with lid.
Turn on burner to medium-high.  Bring water to boil.

 Grate all the carrots.  Saute half with 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-low
flame until tender.

 Add 3/4 cup marinara sauce and simmer for 1 minute.

 Put rice, meat, egg, carrot marinara sauce and 1/2 tablespoon salt in bowl.

 Mix it until it looks like this.

 Water is boiling, after removing core of cabbage add to water with core facing up. 

 Boil cabbage for five minutes.  Flip over and begin peeling off each layer, with tongs I was able
to peel two layers after five minutes.  

 Remove middle vein with paring knife.

 Add a golf ball size amount of meat mixture to cabbage leaf half.

 Fold leaf over meat.

 Now roll.

 Done, repeat with the second leaf.  Once you have filled to leaves you can peel two more and
repeat same process.  Each two layers will be ready after filling the previous two leaves.

 Place filled cabbage leaves in a oven safe dutch oven or other oven safe dish with lid.  After all the filling has been used, keep the pot of water on the stove.

 Saute other half of carrots in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium
flame until tender.

 Add remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce and simmer for 1 minute.

 Pour 1 1/2 cups cabbage water and remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce over rolls in the dutch oven.

Bake for 20 minutes then lower temperature to 350 Fahrenheit and bake 1 additional hour.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!