Coleslaw

Mum,
You gotta update the cook blog. I love cooking the recipes, Makes me feel like I'm home.
Mac

Mac,
Such emails make even a lazy git like your mother get going. I guess you knew that. So here's a new addition - a recipe for coleslaw that takes about 10 minutes all in, tastes great and is super easy.

Why coleslaw you are probably asking yourself? I don't like it that much. It's not so special. Where are the recipes of my childhood?

But you've never had this coleslaw. Baba asks for it all the time. Try it cause your Mama knows best.


Ingredients

1. One head of cabbage - pointed spring cabbage is a bit easier to work with but it really doesn't matter. Any cabbage, any colour is fine.
2. Mayonnaise - this matters a lot. I use Duke's which I bring back from North Carolina but it's not sold outside the South (there's a business idea) so buy the best you can get and make sure it doesn't have sugar in it. Totally unnecessary.
3. Olive oil
4, vinegar
5. caraway seeds

Cut the cabbabe in half. Watch your fingers. Cut out the hard bit at the bottom shaped like a triangle and throw it away.
Then cut into quarters and slice each quarter into very thin strips. Make sure you have a decent knife. If you don't, buy one. If you do, makes sure its sharp and buy a sharpener if you don't have one. You can't cook without a decent knife.
In a large bowl mix 1 cup of mayonnaise, a 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of vinegar and a large handful of caraway seeds plus salt and pepper.
Put the sliced cabbabe in the bowl with all the ingredients and mix. Let it sit for a few minutes to soak up the flavours.
You can also add finely sliced vegetable like carrots or peppers but I like it plain. Hope you do too.

Shredded Kale Salad

There is such wonderful looking kale in the markets right now but what to do with it? This recipe from Marie Simmons is the business. It's so good, so fast  and so delicious you'll be amazed.

1 small bunch (about 10 ounces) of kale, the dark, leafy, Tuscan variety is the nicest for this washed and dried

2 tablespoons fresh lime or lime juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon coarse salt

1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and diced (¼ inch)

1 ripe tomato, diced (¼ inch), with seeds and juice (about 1 cup)

½ cup diced (¼ inch) red onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper, plus more to taste

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon coarse salt

and if you like - ¼ cup unsalted roasted  pumpkin seeds

1. To prepare the kale, cut along both sides of the stem of each leaf with a sharp knife or pull the ruffled leaves away from the stems with your hands. Discard the stems. Gather a bunch of the long kale leaves together on the cutting board and slice into thin (¹⁄8-inch) crosswise slices. You should have 4 to 6 cups lightly packed.

2. Combine the kale, lemon or lime juice, oil and salt in a large bowl. Rub the ingredients together with your hands (as though giving the kale a massage) until the leaves wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

3. Add the avocado, tomato, red onion, jalapeño, garlic, citrus juice, oil and salt.

 4, Toss to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Twice-Cooked Mushrooms

This recipe comes from the Pre-Catelan restaurant in Paris. It is super easy and very delicious.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb mushrooms - any type. Regular button mushrooms are fine - cleaned and sliced
Salt and pepper
Garlic sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper and saute just until they begin to give up their juices. About 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Drain in a colander and set aside. With a paper towel, wipe out the frying pan and add more olive oil over moderate heat.

3. Add the sliced garlic and stir for 1 minute. Return the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 2 minutes more.

4. Off the heat, sprinkle the mushrooms with the parsley. Season with fresh pepper and serve.

Guacamole

Ingredients

½ small onion, very finely chopped

1 fresh chile, stemmed, seeded and very finely chopped

1 ripe tomato, cored and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

fresh coriander chopped

3 ripe avocados

½ teaspoon salt

½ lime juiced

1)   put chopped onion, garlic and lime juice in a bowl or mortar if you have one and leave for a minimum of 15 minutes – this makes the onions less aggressive

2)   Add everything else to the bowl and mash with a fork

3)   If you are not ready to eat immediately, add the pits from the avocado to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.