Apple Fennel Cabbage Slaw {Recipe}

What's colorful, nutritious, and full of autumnal ingredients? Apple fennel cabbage slaw! My mother originated this slaw in my family, probably as a spin off from a magazine. We now make the salad regularly as a side to grilled meats or bite of freshness among a rich oven roasted chicken.

With a very light dressing, the recipe is vegan, low fat, and full of vitamins and crunch. Fennel haters have been known to change their mind over this salad.

Apple fennel slaw keeps for up to seven days in the fridge. When we tire of eating it fresh, we toss it in a cast iron skillet and braise the mix over medium heat until the vegetables are sweet and tender.

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Fennel Apple Slaw Makes: 12-20 servings Time: 20 minutes preparation, 30 minutes resting

1/3 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup white wine or champagne vinegar 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar or honey 2 teaspoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground dried ginger 1 fennel bulb, core removed and thinly sliced 1 small head red cabbage, core removed sliced thinly in 3 inch lengths 2 granny smith or other tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into matchsticks

1. Whisk together or shake in a jar the oil, vinegar, sugar/honey, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and ginger. 2. Pour dressing over fennel, cabbage, and apples. Let macerate for 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.[/print_this]

Added to Hearth and Soul and Traditional Tuesdays.

Cabbage (or Any Vegetable) Gratin Ratio Recipe

Vegetables covered in creamy cheesy sauce with a crispy crust? Yes please! A gratin is a surefire way to please your family with vegetables. When you make the dish yourself, you can adjust the recipe to your family's taste and health preferences. And though a gratin recipe seems complicated at first, after making one a few times you'll find the process simple.

Potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli all cook down nicely in a gratin. Start the recipe by chopping these to size - slice potatoes and cabbage or chunk cauliflower and broccoli into bite sized pieces. Arrange them in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Stir in some shredded cheddar, swiss, or roquefort for a cheesy version.

Make a roux by melting butter or oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add an amount of flour equal to 1/3 more than the fat and cook until the flour is slightly browned and smells cooked. Slowly pour in warm milk (to make a bechamel sauce) or stock (for a veloute sauce) and heat just below simmer until thickened.

Season with salt, pepper, and spices as you desire. A hint of nutmeg pairs nicely with a milk based sauce. Herbs or spicy peppers are delightful in a stock based sauce.

Pour the sauce over the vegetables, stirring gently to cover.

Top with shredded cheese, bread crumbs, panko, or crushed potato chips. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-60 minutes (depending on depth of the gratin) until bubbling in the center and brown on top.

Pictured is a shallow cabbage gratin I made recently to pair with homemade sausages. Try it as a twist on traditional cabbage preparations for St. Patrick's day dinner or as a way to dress up a vegetable side dish with any meal.

Vegetable Gratin in Ratio Form

roux and sauce ratio from the book Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

A gratin can take on many forms based on the ingredients you have on hand and the outcome you desire. The ratios below are approximate. Adjust according to how thick you want the sauce and how saucy you want the finished gratin.

For the roux: 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat (butter or oil)

For the thickened sauce: 1 part roux to 10 parts liquid (stock or milk)

For the gratin: 6 parts chopped vegetables to 3 parts thickened sauce (milk-based bechamel or stock-based veloute) to 1 part cheese

[amd-recipeseo-recipe:1] Talk to me about the recipes on this blog - do you like the ratio recipe, the first listed? For the second recipe, I skipped the printable version in favor of a Google Recipe View friendly version. Do you miss the print function?

Curtido Recipe: Central American Cabbage Slaw

Whoa I haven't posted a recipe in forever.  I like to test a recipe a couple times to ensure directions are correct.  In this case, I made curtido and wrote this post the same night but wanted to see how it aged in the fridge before posting.  Here ya' go! Tonight (by which I mean a night a few weeks ago) we went to my parents' house for dinner.  They were serving a make-your-own burrito bar.  Fun!

I had half a red cabbage left over from making coleslaw for some barbecued pulled pork.  The now-closed La Hacienda Real used to serve a cabbage slaw with refried beans to accompany chips and I wondered if I could use up my cabbage to make that.

A quick google survey revealed their dish was probably curtido.  Curtido is a barely fermented cabbage and carrot slaw common in Salvador and Nicaragua.  It often accompanies pupusas, thick corn pancakes.

My first try was a hit, as evidenced by above inclusion on Dad's second or third taco.  Here's my recipe, based on one from Whats4Eats: [print_this]

Curtido Makes: 12 servings Time: 20 minutes preparation, 2+ hours aging

1/4 head red cabbage, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

3 onion chives, chopped (a few scallions were called for in the original recipe, but onion tops from the garden were the best substitute I had on hand)

boiling water to cover

1/4 cup Charlie's apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 dash red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

several turns of black pepper

Combine cabbage, carrots, and onions in a heat proof bowl.  Add boiling water to cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the remaining ingredients.

Strain out the water.  Press the vegetables to get out all the excess you can.

In a serving dish, combine vegetables and the vinegar mixture.  Allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours before serving.  Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

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