Recipe Exchange

Last week's Pick of the Week, starring cabbage, yielded two recipes from blog readers. The first comes from Ronnie Fein, who tells me unlike my mom, her mother never made cabbage because it smelled to much. Unlike her mom, Ronnie, and her husband, Ed, love cabbage and prepare it frequently. So here's Ronnie's favorite way to prepare cabbage, which she says she cannot believe how easy it is to prepare.

CABBAGE A LA RONNIE
Half a head green cabbage
Vegetable oil
Sliced garlic, to taste
Dozen Sichuan peppercorns
Sea salt, to taste
Shred half a green cabbage.

• Heat some vegetable oil in a wok. Add some garlic slices and about a dozen Sichuan peppercorns. Cook them until they brown and flavor the oil.
• Discard the garlic and peppercorns and stir-fry the cabbage, sprinkling in some sea salt.

Ronnie adds: "YUM-O. Try it sometime. I have done this using dried red chili peppers, too. That's good, but I prefer the Sichuan peppercorns."


Ann Blystone also loves cabbage, in all its forms, from sauerkraut, to steamed to fresh! She says her grandmother's old-fashioned cole slaw with its cider vinegar/mayo dressing is a favorite, although not something she would want to eat every day because of the calories & fat!/

Ann has passed on a different take on my Asian Coleslaw recipe, more of a meal since it includes chicken. The original recipe comes from a friend of Ann's, Deb V. I thank them both.

MANDARIN SALAD
Dressing:
1/2 cup thawed pineapple or orange juice concentrate
1/3 c. good rice wine vinegar
2 Tblsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tblsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ground ginger or 1/2 tsp. fresh minced ginger

• Blend all together and set aside. Refrigerate up to 4 days.

Salad:
2 pounded chicken breast halves, sautéed in Pam, and cut into thin strips
3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (9 oz.)
3 cups shredded cabbage (6 oz.)
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed4 whole scallions, thinly sliced2 C. raw snow or sugar snap or combo peas, rinsed and trimmed (4 oz.)
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 large head romaine lettuce, cleaned, dried and torn into bite-size pieces (do NOT cut in strips)

• Combine all. Toss salad with dressing and serve. (Ann has cooked the chicken a day before and then stored in in the prepared dressing. She then tosses all salad ingredients together before serving.