I made this coleslaw for Father’s Day and have looked forward to having it a snack every day since. It’s a perfect food to bring to a 4th of July BBQ or picnic because it can be prepared ahead of time. The magical thing about this coleslaw is that even though we keep eating it, the bowl is still practically full. I’m not really sure what causes this phenomenon. It’s like the everlasting gobstopper of salads. Anyway, it took about 15 minutes to whip it up in the food processor, and I am grateful for that as well. If you don’t have a food processor handy, you can do all the slicing by hand…but it will be much more time-consuming. This recipe also came from Williams-Sonoma’s Salad of the Day book.
Ingredients:
- 1 head green cabbage (about 2 lb)
- 2 celery ribs
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 small red onion
- 2 small carrots
- 2 T cider vinegar, or as needed
- 2 T minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 1/4 c mayonnaise
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
- Cut the cabbage through the stem end into wedges, and cut out the core. Using a food processor fitted with the thin slicing attachment, slice the cabbage into thin slivers. Transfer to a (very!) large bowl. Slice the celery crosswise in the same way and add it to the cabbage.
- Replace the slicing attachment with the shredding attachment. Halve and core the apple but do not peel. Cut the apple and onion into wedges. Shred the apple, onion, and carrots, and add to the cabbage and celery.
- Sprinkle the vegetables with the vinegar and toss to coat evenly. Add the parsley and mayo and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least two hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more vinegar, salt, and pepper before serving. Serve chilled.
Thanks to Food and Wine for this refreshing chilled soup recipe. Here’s the link to the original. I pretty much followed it exactly, except I substituted 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar for the sherry vinegar, as there was no sherry vinegar at the store. Also, I had a hard time straining out the solids, so I didn’t do much more than get a few colanders dirty before giving up on straining altogether.
This is not the kind of soup to make into a meal. Instead, it would be perfect at the very start of dinner or between courses as a sort of palate cleanser (thanks to my husband for that idea). The recipe says it makes 6 servings, but I think this would make more like 8-10 smaller cups. In fact, this would be the perfect thing to use the 12 (!) espresso cups that I registered for 6 years ago, since I’m not usually making 12 cups of espresso at a time.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup stale, crustless 1/2-inch white country bread cubes
- 1 cup white grape juice
- 1 1/4 cups blanched sliced almonds (I used slivered)
- 1 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumber (This was one large cucumber for me)
- 1 Granny Smith apple—peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 cup seedless green grapes
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used a small amount of red wine vinegar instead)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Shredded mint leaves, for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small bowl, soak the bread in the grape juice for 5 minutes, pressing to soften.
- Spread the almonds in a pie plate and toast in the oven for 6 minutes, until lightly golden; let cool. Transfer 1 cup of the almonds to a blender. Add the bread, cucumber, apple, grapes, garlic, vinegar and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Puree until smooth. Strain the soup through into a bowl, pressing on the solids.(or make a mess with colanders in your kitchen). Whisk in the buttermilk and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes.
- Pour the gazpacho into cups and garnish with the mint and remaining 1/4 cup of almonds. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
New York City is the big apple, so I went to town with some Empire apples from the Carroll Street Farmer’s Market this morning. I don’t own a food mill, and I dislike peeling apples because I feel like I am wasting so much food in the process (plus I was feeling lazy). So, I just made this applesauce with the peels. You can peel the apples for a more traditional take on applesauce, but you won’t get this gorgeous pink hue. It will also take a lot longer. Since I was planning on canning the sauce, I wanted to save my time and energy for that step.
Applesauce is not just for kids or other people without teeth! I’m looking forward to putting this applesauce on latkes come December.
For more fun and seasonal preserving projects , take a look at my strawberry jam post from the spring, or my pickled green beans post from the summer. For detailed directions about canning, the Peach Salsa post is the one to check out.
Ingredients (if you want less applesauce, just cut the recipe in half–they might cook a bit more quickly)
- 6 pounds of apples ( I used 18 Empire apples)
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons sugar (optional; to taste)
- Combine lemon juice and water in a very large pot.
- Core and chop apples into approximately 1-inch pieces, and toss into the pot with the lemon juice mixture as you go to prevent apples from discoloring.
- Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender.
- Blend in batches in a food processor, or use an immersion blender.
- Return applesauce to the pot, and add sugar to taste. Heat briefly until sugar is dissolved.
- Refrigerate and serve within 5 days. Alternatively, you can preserve it in jars for up to a year: I processed 8 half-pint jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
fresh from brooklyn 