A soul food dinner

I owe a great deal, cooking-wise, to an author named Sheila Ferguson. Her book, Soul Food: Classic Cuisine from the Deep South, contains coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, and potato salad recipes that have become the gold standard in our household. It also describes a vegetable known as "creasy greens," which is something like giant wild land cress. It's available canned from one or two of the soul-food canning companies, but imagine my surprise when I went to the grocery store this week and saw it fresh for 79 cents a pound. I bought two big whorls of it (nearly a pound total) and brought them home.

Below is tonight's meal, loosely adapted from Ferguson's book and (in the case of the oysters) James Beard's classic fish cookbook from a few decades ago.

COLESLAW
4 heaping Tbs. mayonnaise (low-fat is fine, but fat-free is not)
a 1- to 2-inch piece of onion, grated finely
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 heaping Tbs. sugar
about 3 Tbs. white vinegar
half a head of green cabbage, shredded finely
1 carrot, grated

Combine the first five ingredients in a large glass bowl and whisk together. Refrigerate 1 hour and taste, tweaking the proportions to your liking.
Stir in the cabbage and carrot (and some minced green bell pepper and celery, if you like it, but these are extraneous) and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.


CREASY GREENS
wild land cress, rinsed in two changes of cold water, leafless portions of stems removed, and chopped coarsely
a few small hunks of ham, a hambone, or a few pieces of lightly cooked bacon
water
red pepper flakes
salt
coarsely ground black pepper
hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco or Texas Pete

Place the greens and ham in water to cover. Toss in a few sprinkles of red pepper and a couple dashes of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat slightly and keep at a brisk simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the stems are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with hot pepper sauce.


FRIED OYSTERS
fresh shucked oysters
several Tbs. of cream (milk will do in a pinch, but the breading won't stick as well)
saltine cracker crumbs (roll these to a fine texture with your rolling pin; you'll need more than you think)
oil for frying

Dip the oysters in cream, roll them thoroughly in crumbs, and fry them in batches in a couple inches of hot oil, turning as needed. Drain on paper towels.

Serve plain, or with tartar sauce, or on po-boy rolls with mayonnaise and lettuce.