Try It This Weekend Thursday - Blue Cheese Coleslaw

There’s nothing better than icy cold coleslaw to go with anything off the grill.  There’s as many versions of coleslaw as there are families in our great country.  Some like a creamy coleslaw, some like a vinaigrette style coleslaw.  I have to say I fall firmly in the creamy coleslaw camp.  There’s a great little Coney place in this area that has delicious, tangy and sweet slaw that I just can’t seem to replicate.   So one day, when I was craving blue cheese, I came across a recipe for blue cheese coleslaw and just had to try it.  Well, it turned out to be a lot of work, so if I ever wanted to have it again, I had to modify the recipe to make it faster and easier to make.  Here’s the result of my experimentation:

2 one pound bags of coleslaw mix (with the bags of lettuce in the vegetable section)

2 cups mayonnaise (16 oz.)

¼ cup Dijon mustard

2 T. whole grain mustard

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. celery salt

½ t. kosher salt

½ t. black pepper

1 ½ cups crumbled Roquefort blue cheese (6 oz.)

In a large bowl, empty both bags of coleslaw mix.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, both mustards, vinegar, celery salt, kosher salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the coleslaw mix and toss to moisten well.  Add crumbled blue cheese and toss together.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate for several hours to allow the flavors to meld together.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

A few tips about this recipe: 

1)    You can make your own coleslaw mix if you don’t want to buy it by using a food processor or mandolin to slice ½ head of green cabbage, ½ head of red cabbage and 4 large carrots. 

2)    I have trouble finding plain whole grain mustard at my grocery store, so I use a fancy whole grain mustard with garlic.  Really, everything is better with garlic anyhow. 

3)    If you don’t keep kosher salt on-hand, you can use regular table salt, but I would recommend decreasing the amount to slightly less than ½ teaspoon…you might find it too salty otherwise (remember, you can always add more salt to suit your taste, you can’t take it out!). 

4)    Lastly, when you first mix the dressing with the coleslaw mix, it doesn’t look very creamy, in fact, it may look barely moistened, but have patience, by the time you get it out of the refrigerator to serve, it’ll be very creamy.