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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Freezer Coleslaw

The cabbage all came in at once, of course. It seems like I would learn to plant a few here, a few there, a few weeks apart, doesn't it? But every year I do the same thing and then bemoan the results--a big boom of cabbage.

So there I was in the kitchen with a bushel of cabbage. As it turned out, there were quite a few of the Savoy cabbage and I am very unhappy with it this year. It's...limp. Not crispy like you'd expect cabbage to be. It is still in the basket and I'll see if it's worth doing anything with tonight. If not, it's chicken and turkey feed and off my list of must-plant seeds next year. I've had great luck with it in the past, but I am sorely disappointed this year.

I like cabbage. A lot. But I have never been happy with the ways I've tried for putting it up. I've tried canning it. Yuck. Strong and soggy. I've tried freezing. Better, but still not quite satisfactory. I've made kraut, and while I like kraut, it's a pretty fixed item--I mean, when you have kraut for dinner it always tastes the same, and how often do you/should you eat something that's pretty salty?

But I wondered: you can freeze cabbage and you can freeze carrots, so surely I could freeze coleslaw. I looked online and sure enough there were recipes aplenty, and simple ones at that.

Here's the recipe I used, as posted on my Facebook page. I should say that I didn't follow this precisely. I had several small cabbages (I raised baby cabbage this year, a new variety that doesn't get very big), so I think I used 4 of those, and 2 grated carrots. I doubled the dressing recipe because I figured I had twice as much cabbage. It made about 3 quarts. I don't know how long this can keep. I put it in freezer containers but I wonder if bags would keep better?

Anyway, here's the recipe:

1 med. head cabbage, shredded
1 c. grated carrot
1 tsp. salt

DRESSING:

1 c. vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed
2 c. sugar


Mix salt with cabbage. Let stand 1 hour.
Squeeze out excess moisture.
Add grated carrots.



Combine dressing ingredients and boil 1 minute; cool to lukewarm. Pour over slaw mix.
Put into containers.
Freeze.

Copyright 2010 by Susanna Holstein. No republication or redistribution with permission of Susanna Holstein.

5 comments:

  1. We never grow caggage Sue, because they always get invaded by cabbage white butterflies and then caterpillars. But I love Savoy cabbge -I shred it finely and cook it with lots of black papper, nutmeg grated and a dollop of butter. A couple of minutes stir fry and it is delicious. My mouth is watering as I write this - could eat some right now!

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  2. This sounds great and fairly simple.
    I don't plant cabbage because I'm the only one in my family that even likes it.
    However, I make them suffer through it every so often when I get a craving for cabbage rolls.

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  3. Weaver, I've grown Savoy many times with good results, but for the past two years it's just been pitiful. So I'm thinking about whether to try again. One year I gave plants to my neighbor who reported it made the best kraut she'd ever made. This year I believe the problem is our very dry weather. As for the cabbage moths, we do have them sometimes but have been fortunate for the past several years that they've left us alone. I've considered getting some guinea hens too, as I hear they are good to eat garden pests.

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  4. I know, Jessica. Lots of people don't like it but boiled with butter, oh my, I do love it. And I know how weird that probably sounds to cabbage haters :)

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  5. I was just reading about freezer slaw-our minds must be on the same wave length :)

    I'll be praying for your friend Karen-I'm glad she has you to help.

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