BS: Coleslaw

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 01:33 PM

There was some evidence recently that EVOO was sometimes not as advertised... here are a couple of articles about this;

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/06/is-it-true-that-some-extra-virgin-olive-oil-is-fake/index.htm

http://lifehacker.com/the-best-olive-oil-for-your-money-may-be-at-trader-joe-1536390687

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Don Firth
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 12:42 AM

Unsuccessful attempt at a food product franchise:

Cole slaw on a stick.

(I'll go now....)

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 01:40 PM

Guest, that sounds good, and also beautiful.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 01:22 PM

Winter red cabbage slaw:

Shredded red cabbage, red onion and carrot.
Walnut oil, orange juice, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 10:04 AM

ClaireBear and Acme, thanks for the info on how to cut up a mango.

I keep my olive oil in the fridge because otherwise it goes bad. As I mentioned already, put some of it in a wide-mouth jar for easier dispensing. I don't use it to fry things because that breaks down the flavor of it.

In general, people, getting oil so hot that it smokes sounds dangerous - could start a fire.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 08:26 PM

I shop in a Halal market that has a lot of immigrant traffic. There is a whole aisle for various types and sized bags of rice - like the space a "typical" American grocery might dedicate to snack chips or to the dog food and cat food section (and some of the bags of rice are just as big as those dog food bags!) There are other large sections for oil, sesame tahini, etc. Because they sell so much there is a fast turnover. I think I get oil that hasn't been on the shelf nearly as long as some regular grocery stores, which no doubt helps with the amount of time it stays good.

I wonder how hot some of you are cooking, that you're making the olive oil smoke in the pan? A quick saute with a drizzle of oil in the pan (as Steve described) is all it takes to cook many things, not hot-as-hell stovetops to seer or do a long deep fry. Of course there are oils meant for hotter cooking, and I use one of those on occasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 07:06 PM

Cool, jaze. I was raised just over the hill in Cross Lanes, and my undergraduate degree is from State! Back when it was still a college. That was many, many moons ago. While home for Christmas last year my sister and I drove over and walked all around campus. Much larger and many buildings that weren't there when I was a student.

Was Andy's (with Andy still running the place) still there when you attended? In my day the house specialty was hot bologna sandwiches, but a good, sloppy, WV slaw dog was also to be had, along with coffee that would put hair on your chest.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 06:34 PM

Janie, I went to W.VA. State in Nitro.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Janie
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 10:54 AM

I cook very little these days now that my youngin' has flown the coop and I am working so many hours and weekends. I mostly stop at a salad bar or eat a bowl of cereal, so I don't use up staples very quickly. I cook so little now that I find there are some things for which I have lost my touch or confidence. I was at one time a very good cook and like to cook, but not just for myself. Even if I had time, I doubt I would cook very often for myself.

An open bottle of Olive Oil will begin going rancid in about 3 months. It won't kill you to use it, but I can't stand the taste or smell of it once it starts to go. Generally speaking, the higher the monounsaturated fats in an oil, the quicker it will go rancid once opened.

Good Oils Gone Bad

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 09:37 AM

A lot of EVOO isn't, but that's not your grocer's fault. Oil goes rancid, so it doesn't matter whether it's EVOO, peanut oil, or (shudder) sesame oil, mayo... It's oxidation --reaction with the air-- so I wonder if those pumps used to cap wine bottles that suck the air out would hlp prevent it. If you don't have a problem, though, it's probably not worth it to try.

Peanut allergies & generations: there's one theory that kids who've had a bunch of childhood infections are less likely to develop odd immune system reactions. I don't know why, but I can imagine the cells responsible sitting around and talking. "Wait? Hell, I'm gonna go out and KILL something!"

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 09:18 AM

I buy olive oil in three-litre tins from the local Italian grocer. (Ottawa is blessed with several.) The tin has a special seal that allows clean pouring into the ready-use oil bottle, but nothing fancy for preventing the contents from going rancid. Nevertheless, although we are not high-volume users of olive oil, I have never had a tin go bad on me, even in summer and even when we didn't have air-conditioning.

Would this be because the oil is not, despite its label, extra-virgin olive oil? Is my Italian grocer LYING to me?

Like Steve Shaw, I use it for salads and light sautéeing, preferring "groundnut" (that's peanut to us) oil for high-temperature frying. Funny; nobody our age is allergic to peanuts.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 05:44 AM

I heartily concur! Generally speaking it's best to use extra virgin oil cold or for dishes that need only gently sautée-ing at the start, for example if you're gently frying your chopped garlic and chilli flakes for a minute without turning them brown, for melting anchovies for whore's pasta or for adding to liquids that won't go above boiling temperature (adding to home-made tomato sauce for example). Very hot EV oil smokes too readily and turns a bit horrid. I use ordinary olive oil for most frying or for my Mediterranean roast spuds done in the oven and keep the EV for the above purposes. I always have a special bottle of best quality oil for drizzling over all my pasta and pizza dishes (sine qua non). None of these ever lasts long enough to have me worrying about the oil going bad. The only other oil I ever use is groundnut oil for very hot stir-frying or for making my oven chips which need the oven to be searing hot.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 01:17 AM

I have never heard of keeping olive in the fridge! I use olive oil for most pan fried things , I also use it on pasta and thing like brushetta , so we go through a lot of it. Keeping in the refrigerator seems very odd to me. Is there a specific reason to do this ? Just wondering.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 12:39 AM

I have large and small filet knives (my father loved kitchen gadgets, this was his pair of expensive Finnish fish knives) that works perfectly for mangoes. Much better than a paring or chef-type knife. I concur with ClairBear's description of dicing mango. I learned it watching one of the old Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot episodes, when he showed the trick to a room full of murder suspects. :)

I buy olive oil in thick glass bottles at a Middle Eastern import market. They're usually three litre bottles and they come from specific towns in Lebanon or Jordan or Israel. None of this small print naming the source of the oil from every country around the Mediterranean region. I store it in my pantry shelves in a box and with a section of newspaper tucked/wrapped around it to keep light from hitting it. I use olive oil for everything so it doesn't have time to go rancid before I finish it. I decant some into one of these oil bottles that costs all of $6 at World Market. I tried for a long time to find a good oil bottle that doesn't dribble, and this is it.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 07:43 PM

I like my cole slaw to be...embellished. Just plain cabbage doesn't make good slaw. A little purple cabbage and carrot and onion makes it a lot more interesting (IMHO).

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 06:15 PM

Olive oil will keep for a year or more unopened. Once opened it should be stored at room temperature and used within a few months. Extra virgin oil can be ruined by sticking it in the fridge. Anyway, wassup? No olive oil ever lasts for that long in our house. Use with gay abandon in all your cooking, drizzle it on all your pasta and pizza dishes and stop worrying!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: ClaireBear
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 01:53 PM

Leenia, my mango-cutting technique is simpler than it sounds. With a sharp, thin, flexible knife (a boning knife works well), cut all the way around the mango, stem to pointy end and back again, on both sides of -- and ideally right next to -- the seed. That will yield two seed-free "cheeks" plus a center section that is largely seed.
Take each cheek, and score the mango flesh all the way down to (but not through) the skin in a cross-hatch pattern that's as small as you want to chop/dice your mango. (You might want to use a different knife for this process; one with a rounded tip will make it easier not to cut through the skin, OR your hand.) Now, just turn each half inside-out to make 2 cute li'l mango hedgehogs. You can then run your knife along the skin and cut off the mango spikes whole, or cut halfway down and then all the way down for smaller dice.
Finally, run your knife under the skin on the center section, and then carve whatever mango flesh can be gracefully separated from the seed. Chop or dice those bits too.
Note: there are a wealth of YouTube videos on how to do this. Watch one, but keep this in mind: All the ones I watched show a whopping big chef's knife cutting straight down, not even trying to cut close to the seed. I'm way too cheap for that: With a thin, flexible knife you can feel your way right along the edge of the seed -- the only way to go!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 11:03 AM

I keep my olive oil in the fridge. I transfer some olive oil to a wide-mouth jar which once held jam, and when I need a small amount, I take it out with a spoon.

If you buy a small bottle, probably all of it will fit in the jam jar.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 09:23 PM

Just wondering, and yes, let me know. I hate having to 'thaw' olive oil, but once opened, it goes rancid very quickly. So I either buy high quality olive oil and keep it in the frig, where it solidifies, or buy small bottles of not so good olive oil, and even then, often end up tossing it

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Jeri
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 07:41 PM

Janie, it keeps as well as any other oil. It will oxidize after a while and taste not-so-good, which olive oil or any other ones will do. I've never tried storing it in the fridge, but I don't think it will solidify. I could try and let you know.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 07:05 PM

That does sound yummy, Claire Bear. Mangos are exotic and expensive fruit here so I rarely have bought or eaten them. Will say that coleslaw with sugar or honey in the dressing is basically adding sugar - with food value!

Have had several vinegriette slaw/cabbage salad recipes that I have liked - but not with pinto beans or cornbread:>) And not on a slawdog.

Jeri, does sesame oil keep well in the cupboard, and if not, does it turn solid if stored in the fridge? I cook so little these days that I keep olive oil in the fridge to keep it from going rancid. A pain to run warm water over the bottle to be able to use it.

For those of us in more mundane climes, apples and cabbage are in season together, and go well together in cabbage salads and in cooked cabbage with good sausages. In salads, adding apples may increase the methane biohazard a bit.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 11:13 AM

Clairebear, your recipe from Baja intrigues me. I like the flavor of mango, but the texture puts me off.

Now, when you say "diced mango" - how do you cut it exactly?

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 09:54 AM

Janie, having located the Grits-Y'all-Ma'am Line in southern Pennsylvania, I'm dying to survey the Slaw Line.

As for hotdogs, I am here to say that the all-dressed dog (preferably a Shopsy's steamie) comes with mustard and sweet green pickle relish. That is all.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 09:43 AM

Too bad you never found any of the hundreds of excellent American beers....must have been hidden behind the stacks of Bud lite.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 06:03 AM

If I do hot dogs, or any other hot meat on a bun (chicken, turkey, pork - especially pork -all with stuffing, natch), I want onions fried in butter in there as well. Just turning brown at the edges. Banana shallots are even better. There won't be any cabbage or carrots because I would have polished them off the day before, steamed au point, with the roast meat (or with some hunks of carrot roasted with the meat if parsnips were out of season). And certainly nothing raw. And no mayo with hot meat, thanks.* Though I do like a bit of rocket and tomato relish on my barbie burgers.

*except for scraps of yesterday's roast chicken dipped in seasoned beaten egg then fried quickly in butter then stuffed into a roll that's been slathered with garlic mayo. This cries out for cold beer, as long as it isn't American. Sorry to troll. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 05:22 AM

Admit that sounds truly disgusting, Steve. I might not care for slaw if that had been my experiences with cabbage. I might not eat raw veggies if what describe had been my introduction to them!

Where did you go to school, Jaze?

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 10:05 PM

Saurkraut?

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 10:02 PM

Having grown up Phila/So.Jersey area,cole slaw was side dish. A proper hot dog came with mustard,relish and sourkraut. When I moved to WVa for college, I stopped for school supplies at a KMart like store. Starving , I ordered a hot dog. I was asked did I want everything on it. Thinking mustard,relish and sourkraut, I said yes. Imagine my horror when it arrived with chili and coleslaw! Since I was so hungry I ate it anyway and was rather surprise how good it was. Never in a million years would have thought of making a hot dog like that. Love cabbage,sourkraut, and cole slaw.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 06:37 PM

The archetypal English ploughman's lunch of the 70s contained as its two major ingredients a large slab of factory cheddar and a hunk of dodgy bread with chewy crust. On the side was a blob of Branston Pickle, the nearest thing to actual poison that may be legally sold. For salad, there was raw cabbage hunks, thick wilted circles of tasteless cucumber, one slice of tomato that tasted just like the cucumber (that is, of nothing), a few week-old outer leaves of a shagged-out iceberg lettuce and a ring or two of thick-cut raw onion. If you were really unlucky, you'd get an abominable scoop of that most horrid of horrids, the grated raw carrot. The average ploughman must have suffered from permanent indigestion, not to speak of severe bad breath. Let's face it. Some veg was just meant to be cooked!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 06:26 PM

Do it!
I just bought a big ol' cabbage, and tomorrow there will be slaw. (Suggestible? Who--ME!?)

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: ClaireBear
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 06:16 PM

Very (VERY) finely sliced cabbage was the rule in my parents' house, with mayonnaise, salt and plenty of pepper. Never sugar.

In my own house, where cole slaw is likely to be a side dish with fish tacos or something else Mexican, I largely base my ingredients on a recipe my friend Jon learned on the beach in Baja: I use very thinly sliced cabbage, some equally thinly sliced red onion, a very finely minced jalapeno pepper or two, and a diced mango, dressed with seasoned rice vinegar, a little olive oil, and salt (not too much) & pepper. Still no sugar; I can't even imagine it.

Jeri, I'm going to have to try adding sesame oil now; that sounds great!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 01:58 PM

re: Janie's photo of "The slaw line"...I had no idea that such lines were explicitly noted by authorities...but I have experienced the same phenomenon with grits.

On a trip thru southern Missouri doing an environmental survey, my partner & I ate breakfast at a small cafe where grits were not on the menu. Next day, 10 miles further south, grits were an option. The 3rd day, a bit further south, grits were added to your order as a standard.

Moral: something between de gustibus non disputandum and "that's how *I* learned to do it, and those other silly ways are highly suspect!"

(thanks for tolerating me in spite of my flaws, Janie. ;>))

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Stim
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 01:39 PM

GUEST-

Having followed Steve Shaw's commentary on foods for a while, it is clear to me that you haven't--his culinary comments and epicurean tastes are rather erudite--furthermore, though I disagree with him on the subject of coleslaw, I note that rather than simply disparaging it, he offers a way of preparing cabbage that he likes better, and I find this rather admirable.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 09:51 AM

Spoken like a true troll, brave Guest. I said steam, not boil, and I mentioned stir frying as well and I have not mentioned salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 09:08 AM

Janie, I've never tried a mustard dressing. Maybe you could adapt a niçoise dressing recipe. I'm really happy with the mayo + sesame oil. I made it for a summer party, and wondered "what if". I came home with leftovers an added more of the oil. It's easy enough to take a little bit of the coleslaw and add something to it, just for a taste, although that precludes using a completely new dressing.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Don Firth
Date: 10 Aug 15 - 12:45 AM

Just a quick aside with a message for those who are unhappy with the subject of a particular thread: when I was working as a radio announcer, every now and then some sorehead would call in and complain that he didn't like the programming on the station.

An old-time radio announcer said that his response to these disgruntled callers was to remind them that their radio had at least two knobs on it. One changed stations and the other turned the radio off. He would suggest that if they didn't like the programming, they should use either one knob or the other.

And now, back to our regular broadcast....

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 11:11 PM

Re where the word 'slaw' comes from, above. D. in the dictionary probably meant Dutch, not Danish.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 10:05 PM

Jeri and others, would love to hear more or have recipes posted for slaw dressings that include mustard.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 10:02 PM

I lived in a tent for several months after moving to NC nearly 30 years ago. Before and after that, long term (3-8 weeks at a time) camping off road to gather wild medicinal plants, flowers for potpourri, and sassafras and slippery elm root bark. Lived out of the back of a truck in summer (and in winter in south Florida) doing craft shows, flea markets and farmers markets.) All on a very thin budget. Cabbage keeps. Whether in a cooler with a block of ice or tied in a mesh bag to a tree limb while camping. Lettuce and other greens don't keep well in said cooler or tied up in a mesh bag.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 08:41 PM

Shaw, spoken like a true Brit in regards haute cuisine ....boil the piss out of it and for seasoning a liberal lashing of salt.....yeah, that's the ticket.....lol!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 07:56 PM

Here is where I confess I only learned to like cooked cabbage about 10 years ago, and sauerkraut only in the past year. In fact, had my first Reuben sandwich, with kraut, only a week ago. Loved it.

Took my youngin, now 21 and with a much more adventuresome palate than me to get me to try it after a first try when I was probably 6 yers old that turned me off completely. Wouldn't try it. Wouldn't smell it. Wouldn't allow it in the house.

Thank you, Universe, for youngin's.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 07:53 PM

Let's face it, the humble cabbage is a much-maligned beast, what with nasty stringy bits cropping up in coleslaw, and thick, stalky, raw wedges of it, bulking out the tasteless sheets of wet iceberg lettuce browning at the edges and thick, watery discs of hothouse cucumber, making unwelcome appearances in ploughman's lunches. Frankly, the cabbage cries out to be cooked. For winter roast veg accompaniment I reckon you can't beat steamed cabbage with steamed carrot batons all mixed together, smothered in gravy made from the meat juices. As long as a roast parsnip is also included. Let the coleslaw be consigned to summer salad bellyachitudinousness!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 07:30 PM

Lighten up Ake , not everyone has to comment on American talk show hosts. People are interested in a wide variety of things. Long argy bargy threads seem to be dominated by a handful of argumentative men, whereas threads like this draw a variety of people and many of us enjoy them. Is that what Max intended? Yes, think it is,any people, many topics. Brace yourself Ake, I may just start a thread a thread on sauerkraut!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 07:28 PM

Like deviled cabbage. Then add the hot pepper to piss it off and you get angry demon coleslaw. Which is close to kimchi, so go for it!

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 07:09 PM

Best response to trolls on threads is to ignore their posts to threads.

It has been several years since I lived with enough sun for a veggie garden, and have never had the time to tend a garden big enough to preserve, via canning or freezing, more than a few jars of tomatoes, tomato sauce or assorted veggie pickles for gifts.

Briefly lived out in the country in WV with a root cellar, and cabbage was the only thing that stored well there. Apples probably would have done well, but the deer tended to harvest the apples before they were anything approaching ripe.

My sis used to freeze shredded cabbage in a vinaigrette dressing that was quite tasty. (She also likes pickles better than do I.) But I do recall her recipe, which she has lost track of, was quite good and was also surprised the texture of the cabbage was quite close to that of fresh cabbage.

Touring google, have run across recipes, mostly from the UK, that incorporate mustard into slaw dressings. Sounds heretic to me, but I may have to try some of them.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: MMario
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 06:28 PM

Ake - it is in the BS: section. And coleslaw is made of cabbage - which features in more then one folk song.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: GUEST,gillymorg4
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 06:13 PM

The best way to enjoy your coleslaw is in the absence of surly homophobes.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: akenaton
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 05:24 PM

Jon Stewart the hero of the liberal left got eleven hits...coleslaw got fifty......go figure??????

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: akenaton
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 05:21 PM

Why hasn't this thread been deleted? or at least moved to the music section?

There are over fifty posts here, and I defy anyone to get halfway through without falling asleep.

Do we really correspond over thousands of miles to discuss coleslaw, its a bunch of sick that some people like to drop on their ham salad, that's all it is....there' nothin' to discuss.

Is this the future of Mudcat? Surely this is not what Max visualised when he set up a discussion section.

Subject: RE: BS: Coleslaw
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 15 - 05:03 PM

A man after my own heart, BrendanB. Maybe. Seems the great (grate?) debate regarding coleslaw is what constitutes creamy and tangy, eh?

Freshly made, given a good stir before serving, and not allowed to sit neglected on the plate or in the tiny side bowl for any length of time is part of the equation, no?

My uncle, who has lived in Florida since the early 70's, visits my Mom at least once a year. Before he left WV he managed a local drive-thru or two in Huntington. Although he never worked for Stewarts, he appreciates an excellent slaw dog when he encounters one, and his nostalgia for the still excellent Huntington Stewart hotdogs and home made root beer linger. It is a given that at some point during his annual visit he will drive an 1 1/2 hour round trip to Stewart's in Huntington and bring a huge load of hotdogs to Mom's for lunch.

Much as I agree with him that Stewart's slawdogs are the best ever, they are the best ever only if eaten immediately after presented by the carhop to the window of the car. By the time they have traveled the 45 minutes from downtown Huntington to Cross Lanes, they are a cold, soggy mess. The rootbeer travels well, however, and is worth putting up with the cold, soggy dogs to have the rare opportunity to imbibe. Plus, who am I to mess with my uncle's nostalgia?