Coleslaw

Inspired by the fact that we still have a load of the home made mayonnaise in our fridge, I decided to make some coleslaw. I had totally forgotten about coleslaw… it was always something I had at school and was made for us at home, but I’m not sure I had ever made it myself before.

The best and only coleslaw anecdote I have (I bet that is the first time you have read those words today) was when we visited our French friend shortly after she had returned from living in Australia. She was so excited to prepare this “exotic” salad that she had discovered down under for us. Her excitement to see our reaction to the surprise salad immediately disappeared, like an excited spaniel that has brought a dead bird into the house, thinking he’s going to get a pat on the head and a treat. She couldn’t disguise her disappointment that coleslaw wasn’t a new phenomenon in our lives, but in fact a staple of our childhood  and we would much have preferred the foie gras.

So I made coleslaw last night and it was really great, especially with the home made mayo… and it’s full of raw vegetables so it can’t be bad for you…

Ingredients

• 1/2 small white cabbage finely sliced
• 3 carrots finely sliced into sticks
• 1 apple finely sliced
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (or as much as you like)
• 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
• salt an freshly ground black pepper to taste
• flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method

Chop the fruit and vegetables very finely, mix the mayonnaise and the mustard, season to taste and garnish with flat leaf parsley.

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Egg Salad

Decided to make egg sandwiches and thought that we may as well  make the mayonnaise to go with it and was really worth the effort, which in all honesty wasn’t that much. Clearly a lot more difficult than opening up a jar, but anyway… We put some fresh flat leaf parsley with the eggs and mayo which I think adds a really good flavour. Fresh eggs is key to the success.

Ingredients

• 4 free range fresh eggs
• a bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• mayonnaise (preferably home made see post)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• good bread

Method

Place 4 eggs (that are at room temperature) in cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer the eggs for a further 5 minutes, this will give you a perfectly set white and a little bit of softness in the yolk. When the five minutes is up, plunge them into cold water and leave to cool.

Then remove the shells. Slice them up in a bowl adding 2 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise, a pinch of salt and some pepper as well as some chopped parsley.

Mix thoroughly and place between some fresh bread. Now eat far too quickly and get indigestion like I did, or alternatively, just enjoy.

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Home Made Mayonnaise

We followed Julia Child’s mayonnaise recipe. It’s the most detailed, step by step explanation I’ve ever followed but it’s definitely necessary to make mayonnaise. This makes roughly 1 cup of mayonnaise. To make more see ratio chart here.

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup of oil (We used olive oil, but be careful. We learned that olive oil is basically fruit juice and therefore can go bad and have a rancid after taste. Try to find the freshest olive oil you can).
• 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard

Method

These are her directions for hand-beaten mayo. There are different directions if you want to use an electric blender.

It’s very important that all your ingredients be room temperature. If your oil is cold, heat it until it’s tepid. It is also recommended that you heat your bowl in warm water and then dry it off before you put the eggs in.

Take your 2 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Put the yolks in a bowl and beat with a whisk for 1 to 2 minutes until they are thick and sticky. Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar, salt and mustard. Beat for 30 seconds.

Now that the egg yolks are thick they can absorb the oil. Eggs can’t absorb too much oil too quickly, so you must be patient or your mixture will curdle. To prevent curdling, Julia recommends taking a spoonful of oil out of the measuring cup and placing the spoon over the bowl of yolks. Add the oil drop by drop, stirring constantly, until you’ve used up 1/3 to ½ of your oil. At this point you’re safe and you can add the rest of the oil a tablespoon at a time until it’s all incorporated. The sauce should be thick and sort of stiff. You can add another tablespoon of lemon juice as well as more salt and mustard.

Beat in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. This will also help prevent curdling.

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