Sunday, February 14, 2010

Carrot and Onion Sandwich Slaw



In a tiny town in Western Pennsylvania, amidst a paper mill, a rivet factory and hundred-year old houses, there exists a small pizza shop called East End Pizza. It is known throughout the world for it's hoagies, and the onion slaw with which they stuff each one of those amazingly addictive subs.

Now, if you are here to find the recipe for that onion slaw, this is NOT it. I would never commit culinary blaspheme by posting a recipe for that which you can only obtain at the revered shop itself. But it was the inspiration for my own canned slaw recipe. To cut down on the monumental onion-breath it causes, and because they are the subject of this month's canjam-

Click for tigress can jam food blog challenge

-I replaced much of the onion with carrot. Because I was canning my slaw, I had to add more vinegar than the original. Not sure about the dried spices, I used my own Italian Combination. And I also added fresh garlic, just because I like it. You could shred the vegetables, or use a mandolin, if you're not feeling up to the intricate knife work; but I find it to be an enjoyable pastime, akin to meditation. Here it is:

3 sterilized pint jars, lids and rings
4 cups matchstick carrots (this is how a Korean taught me to easily cut beautiful matchsticks with no waste)
2 cups julienne onion
3 cloves thinly sliced garlic
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbsp. fine salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
16 oz. white wine vinegar

Toss carrots, onion, spices and salt. Bring vinegar to a boil. Pack veg into jars and fill with vinegar. Process for 10 minutes. (Follow all standard canning procedures- you can learn about them here.)

To consume, drain slaw and toss in extra virgin olive oil. Spoon generously onto your favorite deli sandwich.

16 comments:

  1. I'm not a big pickles eater, but this actually might be a recipe the hubby would enjoy. Thanks for posting! I made 2 carrot jams for the challenge - I have a sweet tooth ;-).

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  2. This looks really good! It's on my list to do.

    Thanks.

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  3. just opened a jar to eat on a hot dog and WOW it is sooo good! the carrots sweetened it up A LOT and in this way is kind of like a relish. YUM

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  4. O yummy! I totally want to make this! It looks and sounds so good. I made a carrot slaw-ish thing too, but I'm too afraid to try it! Your's is so pretty -all the different colors.

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  5. omg these look AMAZING. I'm putting this on my list of things to make! Funny how the can jam always expands my list of recipes that I HAVE to make soon... =)

    What a great idea! Looks delicious.

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  6. I've got to try your recipe, it looks sooo appealing.

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  7. We opened a jar prematurely, too. It was so delicious! We were planning on giving a few jars to family, but now I'm thinking we should keep it all for ourselves! :)

    So far, we've eaten it on sandwiches, in a quick pasta salad and with veggies in pitas. It was great every time!

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  8. It looks great! Is it still crispy?

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  9. it's not totally crispy, i would say more like very al dente. what really surprised me was how sweet it is, despite not adding any sugar. must have been some sweet carrots!

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  10. I hadn't thought to put olive oil on it before putting it on sandwich! That sounds really great!

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  11. I suddenly had the urge to can something. That's normal, right? The only things that we have in abundance that could be devoted to canning are carrots and onions. Yay!

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  12. Thanks for the inspiration, I picked up some gorgeous red and yellow carrots at the market and wanted to preserve them somehow. Can't wait to taste them!

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  13. I had some extra carrots (not from the garden, unfortunately - generic store-bought) that needed to be used, and came upon your recipe! I had some extra pickling brine left (garden carrots and beans this morning), so used that instead of the wine vinegar (will probably lead to a relishy-type result), and so in addition to the spices above, added a few more cloves garlic, 1 tbsp mustard seed, 1 tbsp dill seed, and a bit more chili. We'll see how it goes!

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  14. Is a hot water bath all I need since this is pickled? I made zucchini relish and only needed a hot water bath. Just want to make sure.

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