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July 21, 2024Hot (Slaw) In Cleveland … Tennessee
Hot Slaw
Side
The Week magazine arrived in the mail (so old school!) featuring a New York Times’ recipe as its Recipe of the Week for Hot Slaw, which is the new official state food of Tennessee. Intrigued, I read on. Invented in Cleveland, Tennessee in the 1950s as a hot slaw to “slather on hot dogs, plop it on pulled pork, or simply reach for a heaping tablespoon” it contains cabbage, onions, jalapeños, mayo and yellow mustard … lots of yellow mustard, so if you aren’t a mustard person, avert your eyes now!Somehow, I missed this New York Times article, This Is Hot Slaw. And Cleveland, Tenn., Wants You to Love It, Too, on the history of hot slaw and how it came to be a mostly unknown official state food, even in Tennessee!
Hot Slaw is so beloved in Cleveland, Tennessee they rolled out a Hot Slaw Festival to celebrate “Hot slaw is a unique side dish or topping not familiar to many menus… UNLESS you are in Cleveland, Tennessee. The mustard, mayo, secret sauce concoction is famous and common around these parts, but that is apparently not the case elsewhere.” And they even have a Hot Slaw Trail! We might need to go here.
We love mustard and have 6 jars of different mustards in the refrigerator at the moment. Although the recipe didn’t specify which mustard to use, perusing the comments on the NY Times’ website turned up a recommendation from people who live in Tennessee for French’s Yellow Mustard.
This recipe makes 8 cups of slaw which was a ton for the two of us. Next time I’ll cut the recipe in half.
Quick tip on shredding the cabbage: Remove any wilted outer leaves. Cut the cabbage head in quarters and remove the tough white core. Halve the quarters lengthwise so you have 8 wedges. Use a chef’s knife to cut each wedge into thin slices. Remove any larger pieces that escaped the knife. Of course, if you have a mandolin or food processor, that would do the trick too!
As I have never had Hot Slaw before, I did not change up the recipe other than adding a sprinkle of smoked paprika for serving. Be forewarned, this recipe is very mustard forward which we loved and screams of summer to me. This certainly has some spice but it’s not overly hot, however if you don’t like mustard, you’re not going to like this slaw.
For this recipe, we grilled some Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs and it was one of the best dishes we have eaten this year. Summer nostalgia in a bun! The combination of hot slaw, bun and dog was stupendous. Hot slaw. Good stuff, if you love mustard.
Ingredients:
1 medium head green cabbage, cored, finely sliced and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced and finely chopped
16 oz. jar sliced hot jalapeño peppers, finely chop 1 cup of the slices
¼ cup brine from the pickled jalapeños
½ cup mayonnaise
1 ¼ cups French’s yellow mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
Directions:
Make the dressing in a small bowl by combining the brine, mayo, mustard and sugar.
In a large bowl, toss the chopped cabbage, jalapeños and onion together. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and mix well. Season to taste with salt, pepper or additional brine.
Can be served immediately but it is best when covered and chilled to allow the flavors to develop. Garnish with smoked paprika for serving if you want an extra kick. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.
Recipe lightly adapted from The Week (June 28, 2024 issue) featuring the New York Times recipe.