Best Slaw Dressing EVER!

Coleslaw

what you need:

1 (16 ounce) bag coleslaw mix

1 small to medium chopped onion

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Ground black pepper to taste, I like a lot.

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mayonnaise (or more if your mix is too thin.

1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Juice from half a fresh lemon (or more if you wish)

In a large bowl, combine bagged slaw mix and onion. In a seperate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, pepper, buttermilk, mayo, vinegar and lemon juice. Mix with a whisk till smooth and pour over the coleslaw. Stir well and let chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

*If your slaw mix is too thin, add more mayo. The dressing should cling to the coleslaw, not be soupy. The use of a fresh lemon is critical to this recipe, it really sends it over the top! You could also add some fresh lemon zest for some real zing.

The slaw in the photo is not a store bought bagged mix. I had a head of cabbage so I used it along with some purple onion. I was out of carrots, but I would usually add them too.

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt using a minnow bucket instead of the Yogotherm. The minnow bucket, purchased at Wal-Mart (sporting goods section), costs about $4 verses the Yogotherm, ordered from http://www.cheesemaking.com/, costs $39.95 plus shipping. You do the math! We bought the Yogotherm and have used it many times. Our only problem with the Yogotherm is the plastic bucket provided for making your yogurt or other cheese products. We found that the bucket left an off taste, sometimes slimy, to whatever product we were making. To solve that problem we now use an old pickle jar instead, which works wonderfully. Of course we didn't think of using a minnow bucket until AFTER we had purchased the Yogotherm. What you need:
1 to 2 quarts of milk, you can use whole, 2%, 1%, or reconstituted dry milk.
1 packet yogurt culture

For your homemade yogurt maker:
1 minnow bucket
1 glass jar with a lid
2 washclothes, one for the bottom of the bucket and one to place on top of the jar before you put the lid on.
1 dish towel to wrap around the jar to prevent heat loss.
Heat milk in a stainless steel or enamel sauce pan to 180 to 185 degrees, don't let it boil. Once the milk had reached the desired temp, remove pan from stove and place in a sink filled with cold water. Cool milk to 110 degrees.

When milk has cooled to 110 degrees, pour into jar in the minnow bucket. As you can see we wrapped a towel around our jar to fill the gap between the jar and the edge of the bucket to help with heat loss.

Add 1 packet of yogurt starter and stir well. Put lid on jar and cover with washcloth and finally the bucket lid. Leave the minnow bucket out on the counter for 8 to 12 hours, we leave ours out overnight.

After 8 to 12 hours you have yogurt! If you like regular yogurt you can stop here. Pour your yogurt into a storage container and put in the fridge. However, if you want Greek style yogurt you will need to strain it first. Line a strainer with a coffee filter and pour yogurt into the filter. Let drain in the fridge to desired thickness, 6 to 12 hours. We drain ours in two batches because we don't have a large strainer, but you could line a large strainer with papertowles and drain it all together.

After the yogurt has drained this is what it will look like. Yogurt is easy to make and you don't even need the starter packets. You can also use store bought yogurt to make homemade yogurt. Use 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt for each quart you plan to make.
For this batch we used the Yogourmet starter that we purchased at a local health food store. One box has enough starter to make 6 quarts of yogurt and costs $5.99.

Mimi's Layerd Salad

VERY EASY! This salad is a great compliment to a meal or a meal by itself.

Layered Salad

1 head lettuce, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1 small package of frozen English Peas, uncooked

1/2 cucumber, quartered

1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered

1 small can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 to 1.5 cups mayo

1/2 cup shredded cheese, your choice

3 to 4 hard boiled eggs, sliced

6 to 8 slices bacon, fried crisp & crumbled

2 or 3 green onions (scallions) chopped

In a large bowl, layer ingredients as listed. When you come to the mayo layer, spread it out to the edges of the bowl. Allow salad to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.

Other optional toppings include:

Chopped ham, turkey, or pepperoni

Sunflower seeds

Sun dried tomatoes

Black Olives

Sliced mild banana pepper rings

Chopped bell pepper

Sliced carrots

Fresh spinach

You can also omit the mayo layer and add your own favorite dressing at serving time.

Crock Pot Brisket

Crock Pot Brisket

4 to 6 pound brisket

1/3 cup Dijon or Honey mustard

1/3 cup ketchup

2 Tablespoons dry onion soup mix

1 - 10 or 12 ounce Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon red pepper (optional)

In a small bowl, mix mustard, ketchup, onion soup mix, and spices. Spread mixture over brisket and place into the crock pot. Pour cola over the meat. Cook on high for 8 hours. Slice and serve. Save your leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

*Briskets are usually larger that 4 to 6 pounds so I buy a 10 to 12 pound brisket and cut it in half. I use one half and freeze the other for another day.

Try black beans with jalapeno peppers, they are fantastic!

Louisiana Meat Pies

Louisiana Meat Pies

The filling:

1/2 to 3/4 lb spicy pork sausage

1/2 lb ground beef or ground buffalo

1 large chopped onion

2 chopped green onions

Chopped parsley

Salt to taste

Tony's cajun seasoning to taste

Red pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Brown meats and onion in olive oil. Add seasonings to taste. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over meat mixture, mix well and set aside.

The Pastry:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Crisco

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

Mix dry ingredients together, cut in Crisco till the size of peas. Add liquid and mix till the dry ingredients are all wet. Chill about 10 minutes. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into 4 to 5 inch rounds. Place some filling in each round. Wet the edges of the pastry with water or egg and fold over, press edges with a fork to seal. Chill the pies while you are heating your oil. In a large skillet heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry pies till golden brown on both sides. Drain on a papertowel. Eat them hot. Great with sour cream or Greek yogurt. Substituting plain Greek yogurt for sour cream can really save you on fat and calories.

Homemade Buttermilk

3 cups milk, you can use prepared powdered milk or store bought milk, whole or 2%

1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (store bought)

In a quart jar, combine milk and buttermilk and mix well. Cover with a coffee filter and let sit out on the counter over night at room temp. In the morning you will have buttermilk! I know this sounds nuts to buy cultured buttermilk to make more, but if you use buttermilk a lot you can just wait till you are near the end of your store bought jug and make your own. We use the powdered milk to make ours. We start with warm water to mix up the powdered milk, then add the cultured buttermilk.

Boeuf Bourguignonne

6 Strips bacon -- cut in 1/2" pieces
3 pounds Beef rump or chuck -- cut 1.5" cubes
2 Carrots -- sliced
2 Onions -- sliced
Salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons Flour
1 can Condensed beef broth -- (10oz)
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
2 cloves garlic -- minced
3/4 teaspoon Whole thyme
1 Bay leaf
1 pound Fresh mushrooms -- sliced
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Red or burgundy wine

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove and drain. Add beef cubes and brown well. Don't cook the meat all at once or you will crowd your pan and the meat will not brown. Place browned beef in 3 1/2-quart crockpot. Brown carrot and onion and eason with salt and pepper; stir in flour. Add broth, mix well and add to crockpot. Also add cooked bacon, tomato paste, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf to crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours (or on low for 8 to 10 hours).
One hour before serving: Saute mushrooms in butter and add, with wine, to crockpot. If you want a thicker gravy combine three tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoons melted butter and stir into stew and cook on High until thickened (I skipped this step). Remove bay leaf before serving.

I served my stew with mashed potatoes. The meat is so tender you can cut it with a spoon! You don't have to use expensive wine in this recipe. I used a $5 Post Familie red wine, well because it is made in Altus, Arkansas. As for the garlic, I use the jar garlic that is already minced. I also used ground thyme because that's all I had and it worked fine.