Pages

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Leftover cabbage?


After St. Patrick's Day was over I had a half a head of cabbage staring at me every time I opened the fridge.  Does this happen to you too?  It's my constant cabbage complaint.  There's always too much.  I always need to plan for 2 cabbage dishes everytime I pick up a head.

For some reason, St. Patrick's Day always starts slaw season for me.  Probably because Passover follows closely on it's heels.  And slaws are fantastic snacks for during Passover.  Last year I slawed up almost every fruit and vegetable I could get my hands on - mixing them together, tossing them with vinegar.

While last year led to the discovery that I love slaw in all forms, it's the traditional cabbage slaw I'm writing about today.  According to Wikipedia, the term "Coleslaw" is an Anglicisation of the Dutch term "koolsla" referring to cabbage salad.  Wikipedia also notes that coleslaw is originally an Irish dish.

An Irish dish to use up leftover cabbage from colcannon?  Sounds like a winner to me!  I don't like mayonnaise, so this coleslaw doesn't use it.  Instead, it relies on a boiled salad dressing - fairly light and unassuming, which is just perfect to let the tangy vinegar shine through. 

Coleslaw
1/2 head of cabbage
 3/4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
cayenne pepper
3/4Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp vinegar
salt
1/2 tsp celery seed

  1.  Place the cabbage in a bowl of cold water and refrigerate 1 hour.
  2. Make the dressing: Combine flour, mustard, and sugar in a pan.  
  3. Slowly add the egg yolks, a sprinkle of cayenne, melted butter, milk, and vinegar.  
  4. Heat, stirring constantly until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and add salt to taste.
  5. Drain the cabbage, shred, and toss with the dressing and celery seed.

6 comments:

  1. This always happens to me too! I have something that's teasing me every time I open the fridge or a my closets and I am just pretending that I don't see it, until I realize that I have to do something with it or else it will end up in the garbage and then run like crazy, lol. The salad looks delicious a perfect way to use your cabbage. You can also cook it with rice and tomato sauce like we do in Greece. It very good too! Just an idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My 1/2 head of cabbage is still staring at me! I guess I'd better us it up quick! Love the addition of celery seed here. I'm intrigued by the boiled dressing...hmm.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cabbage always seems like it never ends!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here's a slightly different challenge . . . any thoughts on what to do with leftover Napa cabbage? I threw it in an Asian noodle soup the other day and now I've still got cabbage (and no desire to eat more Asian noodle soup)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Look at us with our leftover cabbage recipes this week! I love finding non-mayo slaw recipes to thrust upon my family over the summer. Love this!

    ReplyDelete