Reader shares freezer slaw recipe

Spokane Reader Susan Mossuto called recently to ask for a Dorothy Dean recipe for Freezer Coleslaw.

We were unable to find it in our archives, but reader Pam Barrett shared the original Dorothy Dean recipe she’d clipped from the newspaper after we published a different freezer slaw recipe last summer.

Here’s the Dorothy Dean version of the slaw:

Freezer Coleslaw

From Dorothy Dean’s Homemakers Service

For the salad:

1 medium head (2 to 21/2 pounds) green cabbage, shredded

1 cup shredded carrot

1/2 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

For the dressing:

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Dash black pepper

Combine vegetables and salt in large bowl. Let stand at least 1 hour. Drain.

Combine all dressing ingredients in saucepan or microwave-safe container.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling for 1 minute. Cool slightly. Pour over drained cabbage mixture; toss well.

Spoon into freezer containers, label and freeze no longer than 2 weeks.

To serve: Remove slaw from freezer container, thaw until slaw can be broken apart but is still very cold and ice crystals remain, breaking and stirring once or twice. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes more before serving.

Yield: 12 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 78 calories, less than 1 gram fat (no saturated fat, 1 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 19 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 215 milligrams sodium.

Margaret Soderberg said she was looking for a Dorothy Dean recipe similar to the Liberty Orchards’ famous aplets and cotlets but that could be made with huckleberries.

There were a few similar recipes in the archives for the apricot and apple candies in our archive (Dorothy Dean called them “bitlets”), but none had instructions for using other fruits.

But I came across a recipe for Turkish Delight we published in 2004 that makes a similar candy and can be used with any type of jelly you choose.

I tested it at home with huckleberry jelly, and the result was delicious.

Turkish Delight

From www.recipecottage.com and www.hungrymonster.com2 tablespoons water

3/4 cup liquid fruit pectin

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup jelly, any flavor (raspberry, apricot, peach, huckleberry, etc.)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

1/2 cup broken nuts (optional)

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Put water and pectin in a very heavy 2-quart pan. Stir in baking soda. The soda will cause foaming; do not be alarmed.

Put the corn syrup and sugar in a second pan.

Put both pans on high heat. Stir alternately for 3 to 5 minutes or until foaming has ceased in pectin pot and boiling is active in the other. Then, still stirring the corn syrup mixture, gradually and steadily pour the pectin mixture into it. Continue stirring and boiling, and add the jelly during the next minute.

Remove the mixture from heat and stir in lemon juice, rind and nuts.

Pour into an 8-by-8-inch pan. Let stand at room temperature for about 3 hours. When the mixture is very firm, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar. Cut into shapes or squares by pressing down with a buttered or sugared knife. Release the candies onto a sugared tray so all sides become coated. If you plan to store the candies, let them stand for 12 hours or more on a rack. Re-dust on all sides and pack, then store tightly covered. If you want to dip them in chocolate, remove the excess sugar first.

Yield: Approximately 1 1/2 pounds

Nutrition per 1/16 of recipe: 131 calories, 1.9 grams fat (less than 1 gram saturated, 13 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 30 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 67 milligrams sodium.

Grace Casper wrote for advice after trying the recipe for 4B’s Old Fashioned Tomato Soup.

“I used to watch my mom – 50 years ago – make this similar recipe without a problem,” she wrote. “Every time I have tried, when I added the cream to the tomato ingredients, it curdles. There must be a special ‘trick’ to adding it.”

I turned to Howard Hillman’s “The New Kitchen Science,” Hank Rubin’s “The Kitchen Answer Book” and the venerable “The Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker for advice.

Hillman wrote, “Acid can curdle cream (or milk). The tendency to curdle increases as the ratio of acid to cream, to temperature of the mixture or the salt quantity increases. Since three of the star ingredients in cream of tomato soup are cream, acid-rich tomatoes and salt, the threat of curdling lurks in your kitchen whenever you prepare the soup.”

He said to thwart the curdling tendency the tomato and cream mixture should be heated separately and the tomato mixture should be slowly added to the cream near the end of the cooking process. Rubin agrees that the tomato mixture should be stirred into the cream and not the other way around.

Once mixed, be careful not to heat the soup for very long or to a temperature about 180 degrees. Add any salt just before serving.

Hillman also suggests using the freshest cream possible. As cream ages, it becomes more susceptible to curdling.

I tested the recipe at home with good results. I hope this helps.