Might have to embellish later!
QT's Catalina Cole Slaw - with Cranberries
Yield - a BIG bowl of slaw (appx 8 cups, total)
16 oz. Tri-color cole-slaw mix (pre-shredded green/red cabbage + carrots*)
12 oz. Broccoli Slaw mix (broccoli, carrots and red cabbage, again, pre-shredded)
Mayonnaise (I used Best Foods/Hellman's made with Olive Oil)
Catalina French Dressing**
Apple Cider Vinegar
Heavy Cream
Splenda
Onion Powder
Celery Salt (would have preferred to use Celery Seed, but I didn't have any)
Tarragon
White pepper
Craisins (dried cranberries)
Honey Roasted Almond Slivers
Okay, here's the deal: I am *not* the best recipe-writer in the world. At best, my quantities are "guesstimates." Although when I list the quantities up-front, chances are, they're pretty damn close (usually because I started by "borrowing" from someone else's recipe)!
But... And I bring this up because a friend of mine called me, recently, while she was at the grocery store purchasing ingredients for one of my recipes which called for 16 oz. of beef broth (b/c, obviously, I had used *half* of a 32 oz "box" that must've been sitting in my fridge).
"But, beef broth only comes in 14 oz. cans!" she exclaimed
"Okay, so use a 14 oz. can!"
Anyway, what I'm saying is: My recipes are NOT "Gospel" - by all means, improvise!!!
Okay... Got THAT disclaimer out of the way! Today's recipe is a Complete "QTPi Original!" And I was "makin' it up as I go!" so I really don't have exact measurements!
And Cole Slaw dressing is funny anyway... First off, there's the viscosity (ahem!) which has to be "just right" - neither too thick (so it doesn't coat everything), nor too runny (so it ends up in a puddle on the bottom of the bowl)... Plus, there's the whole flavor-melding factor: You need to make the initial dressing pretty "strong-flavored" because once it's melded-mellowed, it's gonna be a lot milder. So what I'm sayin' is, you just kinda have to "wing it!"
That said, here is - "to the best of my recollection" - how I assembled the slaw:
First, dump appx 1/3 of both slaws into a large bowl (*and let's just forget about the fact that I have a ton of organic carrots + I harvested a cabbage from my garden, k? 'Cuz, obv, *I* did when I bought the damned pre-packaged slaw!).
Then, in a small bowl, start to combine the other ingredients. For me, it was a "mix-as-you-go" proposition (I was using a coffee cup for mixing the dressing, so I kept having to add/remix more as I went...).
I *think* I ended up with approximately:
- 1 cup of Mayo
- 1/2 cup of [Kraft] Catalina Dressing (**I want to figure out how to make a sugar-free version of this - someday!)
- 1/3 cup of vinegar (More, if you like tangy. Less, if you don't!)
- 1/4 cup of cream
Then mix in (to taste)
- appx 1-2 TBS of Splenda (Splenda goes hand-in-hand with the vinegar. More Vinegar=More Splenda. Less=Less)
- 1 TBS (+/- to taste) Onion Powder
- (maybe) 1/2 tsp Celery Salt (woulda used Celery Seed instead - if I had any!)
- 1/4 tsp dried Tarragon
- pinch of white pepper (optional)
Mix the dressing thoroughly with a fork, then drizzle it onto the slaw veggies and mix it in. Add more slaw veggies, drizzle more dressing. Add more slaw (and if you're running out of dressing, make more), add more dressing. You get the idea!
At the very end, dump in a couple of handfuls of Craisins and stir them in , as well. For me, a handful is appx 1/4 cup so I'm guessing it was about 1/2 cup of Craisins ;-)
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour...
Sprinkle with honey-roasted almond slivers just before serving...
* * * * *
It's been about an hour and I just tasted a sample (no almonds, yet). So far, so good! Although the color is a little weird (the dressing ended up looking kinda "Thousand-Island-y" which is not what you expect to see on slaw). It tastes pretty damn good though!
I'll post pictures whenever we get around to eating dinner!
Dinner!
Okay, so it's a Crappy Droid Pic - but it shows the slaw, k?!!
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