I have done a great job of keeping myself busy in the kitchen these past few weeks. I have sliced and sauteed to my hearts content, taking twice as long to put the actual meal on the table as usual since I am now photographing everything. But today, it is time to switch gears. I am going to spend the next few days doing a real spring cleaning. When the COVID-19 quarantine ends I want to head back to work with my house in order, so I had better get to it.
Since the Coronavirus struck I have been reading the NY Times, and signed up for their daily briefing. When I subscribed, they also asked if I wanted the NYT Cooking newsletter, and of course I said yes. So when I got the email with a link to a new pulled pork recipe it seemed like the perfect thing to make for this weekend. Pulled pork in the crock pot is easy, requiring almost no attention after you’ve turned the dial to low. And there are leftovers! No one wants to cook dinner after a day of deep cleaning, including me. A big batch of pulled pork and my Granny’s coleslaw will keep us fed while we clean out the cupboards.
I remember my Granny teaching me to make coleslaw, and no measuring spoons were involved. We used 1 head of cabbage, and the amounts of everything else were eyeballed with the exception of the apple cider vinegar, which was 2 capfulls. She relied on her expert eye and a few spoonfuls to taste.
You’ll want to use a petite dice on your bell pepper and onion since so they blend well into the slaw
Over the years that I have been making this recipe I have probably adjusted it a bit. I am pretty sure that 2 teaspoons is more than 2 capfulls when it comes to the cider vinegar. But even my friends and family who are not fond of mayonnaise like this coleslaw, so maybe it is the extra vinegar. What really makes this coleslaw special, though, is the celery seed.
Sprinkle the celery seed over the cabbage, mixing as you go to distribute 
This is what is meant by a scant teaspoon, I didn’t quite use it all
I sprinkle the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and celery seed over the cabbage and mix well before adding the mayonnaise. Once the slaw is together it will need to chill for a minimum of 4 hours before serving. I serve mine with a slotted spoon since the slaw tends to juice up a bit while it is chilling.
Add mayonnaise and mix well, 
then transfer to smaller bowl
Granny’s Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 scant tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Shred cabbage in food processor or using a box grater. Add onion and bell pepper.
- Sprinkle sugar, cider vinegar, celery seed, salt, and pepper over cabbage and mix well. You may not end up using the whole teaspoon of celery seed. (I adjust this depending on the size of the head of cabbage, if it is a really big head I use it all.)
- Add mayonnaise and mix well. Transfer to smaller bowl as the slaw shrinks once you have added the mayo. Choose a bowl that will allow for a little additional liquid to develop as it chills.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill well.
One of the things that caught my eye with the NYT pulled pork recipe was that it called for a can of soda. I’ve tried coca-cola in my carnitas before, so I was intrigued with the idea of cooking the pork in root beer instead of BBQ sauce and adding that at the end.
Brown your pork shoulder on the stove, 
then place in crock pot on bed of onions and add your soda 
We did not skip the last step, broiling at the end will caramelize the sugars in the soda
We did not make our own BBQ sauce this time, but I have used this recipe from Sunset and it is delicious if you are up for that! We also added about 1/2 cup of the juices from the crock pot to the shredded meat along with the BBQ sauce before broiling.
Now, time to get to work on the housecleaning, wish me luck!
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