Autumn Carrot Salad, or Life in the Slaw Lane

Today we had weather everybody else I know would describe as "lovely", but I, being the grouch that I am, found just a tad too warm. The whole week has been sunny and 82º Fahrenheit (28º Celsius – or, if you're acquainted with EclectEcon and his friends and neighbors, the "C" is for "Canadian"). While normal mortals like this sort of mildness of climate, I've been looking forward to the chill of winter, when I have really good excuses to stay in the kitchen and bake.

Meanwhile, tonight we had our usual Friday supper crowd – The Bat, Pop, and their best friends, Bill and Jackie. Earlier this month, I'd decided The Bat and I had become too complacent in our dinner planning, falling back often on bratwurst, or chili, or an easy roast. And, even though I have nothing against any of those things, I do like to shake things up a little, once in a while.

We had some nice tuna steaks I'd picked up at a Big Box Store Which Shall Remain Nameless, and I decided to do them up relatively lightly, but with some kick, so I worked a variation on this StayFitCentral recipe, based on (a) the fresh ingredients we had in the house, and (b) people's tastes and tolerances, and, when cooked, I served them up on a bed of fresh baby spinach leaves. Alongside that, I cut wedges of the spuds Pop dug from his garden, slathered them in olive oil, Mexican hot chili powder, and kosher salt, then popped them in for an "oven fry" treatment. I steamed a batch of Pop's garden green beans, then sprinkled lemon juice on them before serving...but there was one more thing I needed to make the meal (not counting dessert, which Jackie and Bill usually bring).

I needed a proper salad. Well, I needed a slaw. Especially since we had a gallon ice cream bucket half-filled with freshly-dug carrots from (you guessed it!) Pop's garden.

Bat originally proposed doing a straight grated-carrot-mayonnaise-and-pineapple slaw, but that just seemed too heavy, alongside all the other dishes, so I played a little bit, until I had what we all agreed was the ideal balance.

The advantage to this slaw is, it needs to sit and marinate at least an hour before serving, so you can fix it first and forget about it until all the other work is done and the table is fully set. Plus, you can make the dressing a couple of days in advance, if you wish (it's also not a bad marinade for pork, if you want to give it a try!).  I understand there are also shortcut packages at the supermarket, of grated carrots and shredded cabbage, so you can go there, if you have time, money, and inclination. But it's very simple, especially if you have a food processor handy.  If not, a good grater is a "must", and no other special equipment is necessary.

It's also very seasonal – the best cider is usually available in this area for a few weeks, starting mid-September, from a small family business. Sure, you can use the store-boughten stuff that's pasteurized until it's little more than a cloudy apple juice, but why not give a local farm or co-op a boost, where possible?

Anyway, here's to Life in the Slaw Lane.

Autumn Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons your favorite brand honey mustard
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups your favorite local apple cider

1/4 head cabbage, chopped for slaw (about 3 cups)
2 medium-small tart apples (I like Jonathans), peeled, cored, and grated coarsely
4 or 5 large carrots, grated coarsely (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup dried cranberries


Directions: 

In a half-pint jar, combine the honey mustard, cider vinegar, and apple cider. Put lid on tightly, and shake until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Chill.

In a large bowl or a gallon zipper bag, mix together chopped cabbage, grated apple, grated carrots and dried cranberries. Pour dressing over this, stir or mix completely, and set in refrigerator to marinate at least 1 hour.

Serve chilled, ideally on a bed of fresh spinach or kale.



Note: If you really want this slaw to "pop" in your mouth, make it a full day in advance. The dried cranberries become tender and slightly sweeter, and all the flavors fuse into a truly zesty experience! (Like chili and spaghetti, it's better on the second day.)

Apple Cardamom Bread Pudding

What's yer name? Puddin' Tame. Ask me again and I'll tell you the same...

The Bat is not the biggest fan of bread puddings. In fact, I think, she'd use stale bread as the base for those tacky glue-and-bread sculptures some of our friends did when we were much younger, rather than sit down at a table and swallow most bread pudding. Honestly, in her mind, if your bread wasn't good enough to be eaten before it got stale, you're just not trying, and you might as well feed it to the outdoor critters (and attract something the dog can chase up a tree, at the same time).

Still, stale bread got rescued. And it got puddinged. And it didn't end up being all custardy, the way so many bread puddings are (the only custard our family generally likes is the one going into a pumpkin pie). For starters, we don't use no sissy French stuff. We like bread with substance. Good, dense, fill-you-up-and-stick-to-your-ribs sourdough is my bread of choice, and, believe it or not, the best I've found in our limited region comes from the bakery section of our Super WalMart. Don't get the "sandwich sourdough," though, because it's still a little on the fluffy side. Get the real, crusty, tooth-resistant stuff. Barring access to WalMart (or, if you are too snooty to go there), see if you can find some San Francisco Sourdough, or something comparable. It's not just about texture, but also the tangy flavor....

Now, this week, somebody who shall remain nameless broke into the loaf of sourdough and had a couple of sandwiches, so I didn't have quite enough of it to make the recipe I was working from... what to do, what do do? Hmmm..... this heel of so-called pumpernickel (it's really not heavy enough to be actual pump, but is just a reasonably good local dark rye loaf) might be enough to fill in to make a pound of bread... cut into roughly one-inch cubes, the combo ends up being about a dozen cups, so... beautiful. And it even looks unusually pretty, once you add the dried cranberries...

And so, to bake.

Apple Cardamom Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

1 lb dense day-old bread, cut or torn into roughly 1-inch cubes (about 12 cups)

4 eggs

2 medium baking (tart-ish) apples, grated (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup apple syrup*

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1 cup milk

1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and grated apple until well-mixed. Add in syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, cream and milk. Mix well.

In a large baking dish, toss bread crumbs and dried cranberries until evenly distributed.

Pour liquid over bread cubes, stir until all the bread is evenly coated. Cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 350º F. (175º C). Uncover baking dish.

Bake about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm. **

*The syrup I used is residual sauce from the last time the Bat made Apple Slices. She set aside about 7 pints in jars, & I raided one of them, today. If you don't have a mother who is so courteous as to leave you this tasty treat with which to work, look for a good apple-flavored syrup at the store and add a little extra cinnamon & nutmeg to the recipe here, to ratchet it up a notch.

**Can be topped with more apple syrup, or chopped pecans and praline syrup, if you're a sugar junkie. I've even drizzled a dark fudge sauce on it, but then, I could probably put that particular fudge sauce on pizza and still be happy. I'm just that way about dark chocolate.

Apple Slices

Mom tells the story that, when she was young, she and her family (aunt, uncle and cousin) would take summer trips to Northern Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. During the course of the season, the adults would come back to the sumer cabin having stopped at the local bakery for the favorite treat: apple slices.

For long years after they stopped going north, Mom wondered if she would ever taste those treats again. Then, in 1964, while we were living in Madison, WI, ourselves, she stumbled across this recipe in -- of all places -- the Chicago Tribune. At first glance, she wasn't convinced the recipe was anything even remotely like what she remembered, but after baking it once, she was transported to her own youth. It has been a favorite for our family ever since.

One warning -- a single batch may not be enough. Mom usually triples this (with a little extra fruit to give it a boost), and fills a jelly roll pan, to keep Pop happy.

Apple Slices

Crust:

2 c. sifted flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. lard

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 c. ice water

Filling:

1 1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. corn starch

1 1/4 c. water

3 lbs. apples, pared, cored, and cut into 16 equal pieces

Directions:

Preheat over to 450ºF.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt for crust. Cut in lard until coarse crumbs. Mix lemon juice, egg yolks & ice water. Add to flour mixture. Blend gently with a fork or pastry blender. Mixture is very moist. Turn out onto waxed paper or plastic, wrap tightly & securely. Chill for at least six (6) hours or overnight.

To prepare filling: mix sugar, cinnamon, salt & corn starch in a medium to large saucepan. Add water. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add apples, cook 10 minutes more on low heat.

Divide dough in half. Roll first half on a generously-floured pastry cloth, into a rectangle about 11"x 15" using cloth-covered rolling pin. Roll dough up on rolling pin gently, turn out onto a 13"x 9"x 2" pan. Bring dough up against the sides of the pan about 1 inch. Scoop apple mixture and ladle into pan [note: Mom usually drains most of the liquid away from the spoon & puts just the tasty apples in the crust, saving the syrupy solution for other uses, such as an ice cream topping or pancake syrup]. Roll remaining dough to fit top of pan. Cut steam vents, then lay crust over apples. Pinch edges together to seal well. (If you like, at this time you should sprinkle sugar over the top, for a glistening, glittery, crispy crust.)

Bake in oven at 450º for 20 minutes, reduce to 350ºF, continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling rack. You may wish to drizzle a light confectioner's sugar icing over the top [note: Mom has used a little of the syrup from the apples as a substitute for milk or water, mixing it with the confectioner's sugar for a tasty, cinnamony, thicker drizzled icing. Our favorite topping, though, is large-crystal decorative sugar she knows as "hagelzucker", but is available via any Wilton's cake decoration supplier, if you don't have an Amish/German community nearby from whom to buy baking goods. Of course, they really need no embellishment].