Great Lakes Comfort: Creamy Coleslaw

Living in the Great Lakes state for the past 15 years I learned to admire local cuisine that is based on a mixture of local ingredients and ethnic cooking. German, Polish, Middle-Eastern and Greek food on one side and cherries, freshwater fish, and summer/ fall crops on another elevate fresh flavors to a unique Michigan level. Lake Michigan Cottage Cookbook is a new dweller in my house. After a thorough review, I'd easily try 80% of its recipes. And since I was asked to bring coleslaw to a housewarming party I decided to go with a modified Creamy Coleslaw recipe from it. It perfectly reflects the European heritage, the freshness of the ingredients, richness of the dressing, and versatility. Coleslaw can be used in a summer picnic, Thanksgiving dinner, backyard grill, or any potluck. 

The recipe is asking for finely chopped white cabbage. I chose thinly sliced and roughly cut red cabbage. Its deep purple is much happier on the eyes and the texture is more inviting than pale, mushy blend. 

As a rule, I mix all the dressing ingredients in the mixing bowl, chop the cabbage and add it to the dressing in batches until incorporated. I also use a single teaspoon, starting from dry ingredients to wet, to save on using multiple utensils. Three teaspoons would make one tablespoon. Easy, right? I'm doing it partially because I'm lazy and don't like to use more single-use tools, and partially because I don't want wasting water and $$ on unnecessary dishwashing. The recipe also utilizes a hefty amount of horseradish, a perfect solution for those of us who have it for this random reason or another and never found the way to use it all up. In my case, Moses commanded my people to have horseradish on the Passover table every year, and it's not much in use in our household afterward. 

Allowing slaw to stand for at least a few hours is another important step. Sure, you can mix and serve immediately if you're in a hurry. But the flavors won't be the same. Allowing ingredients to mellow into each other will create a happy marriage that is hard to break. Below is the modified recipe from the book. Try it. Taste it. Pass it on.

Creamy Coleslaw

Printable Recipe 

1 small head of red cabbage

2/3 cups of mayonnaise (I used avocado oil based) 

1/3 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp horseradish

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Dash celery salt

Slice cabbage thinly then cut across into rough pieces. Massage kosher and celery salt into the chopped cabbage. Add sugar, mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, lemon juice, mustard into a large mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly until homogenous consistency. Add cabbage with salt in batched and incorporate. Chill for at least 2 hours but ideally 8. 

Serves 6-8.