I am a big fan of coleslaw in any shape or form. I don’t mind if it is hoity-toity coleslaw or bog standard supermarket coleslaw, I love it all. Although I haven’t seen it on the shelves recently I am particularly fond of “Mexican coleslaw” which I am sure is a made-up thing. I also love coleslaw with cheese in.
I am guessing that coleslaw with cheese in is the invention of a Tesco food developer person and not an American standard but I could be wrong…
Despite my many adventures with coleslaw I’ve never had coleslaw with ham in. This was good!
I am not sure what an egg white brings to this particular party, but I popped it in anyhow.
Be warned – this makes a HUGE AMOUNT of coleslaw. I made half the recipe and I’ll be eating coleslaw every day for a month I reckon…
B.M. – Before Mayo…
This recipe can be found in a lovely little book called Cooking With Ava: Recipes From Her Family, Fans & Friends.
As the cover hints, the recipes within are almost all from Ava’s family, fans and friends. There are only a few recipes from Ava’s own kitchen – the coleslaw recipe has the note, “Found in one of Ava’s Cookbooks.”
As I am a FERRET when it comes to provenance,
I am dying to know if this means that Ava had books in which she scribbled down recipes OR, whether it was in a printed cookbook and she’d made a note like, “I LOVE THIS COLESLAW!” I don’t think I’ll ever know.
Ava jotting down a recipe…
For the Ava fans, these are the only recipes which have some kind of link to Ava herself. If you would like them, email me via the contact page.
Southern Coleslaw – Found in one of Ava’s Cookbooks
Succotash – One of Ava’s Favorites
Okra, Rice and Tomatoes – One of Ava’s Favorites
Baked Candied Yams – This page was turned down in Ava’s cookbook
Filets of Flounder – Found in one of Ava’s Cookbooks
Southern Corn Pudding – One of Ava’s Favorites
Corn Bread Fritters – Found in one of Ava’s Cookbooks
Pie Dough – In one of Ava’s Cookbooks
The book was obviously put together by Ava fans, many of the recipes are supplied by people who are listed as “Ava Advocates” and it was obviously a labour of love. But I can’t help wondering if there were more Ava recipes knocking around the place or whether these were truly all they had to work with.
Ava Gardner’s Southern Coleslaw
1 cup mayonnaise
1 head of cabbage
1 cup of chopped cold ham
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 egg white
Slice cabbage. Add all ingredients together with cabbage. A little vinegar and/or sugar may be added according to your personal taste.
Very cute ferret!
I make loads of colesaw and I’ve never added cheese to it. I don’t think I’ve ever even tried it- I might have to now. Not sure I’ve added meat either but a bowl of coleslaw for lunch sounds quite appealing! Funny about the egg white…
Oooh do try cheese in your next coleslaw Hazel, it feels VERY decadent. I can’t really have a supermarket one around the flat, I would be so tempted to eat the whole pot.
Yeah, weird about the egg white. Not sure what the point of it was, to make it look glossy maybe?
’twas a tasty coleslaw indeed.
My brothers had pet ferrets and polecats when I was a kid. There’s a photo of me somewhere holding one, I shall seek it out and post it!
I’m a particular fan of “fruited” coleslaws…whether it be those little Mandarin orange segments or crushed pineapple… I’ve never heard of slaw with cheese.
I make slaw often as a quick and easy side…alternating between the KFC copycat version (a sweet, but nostalgic childhood favorite), my own “Greek”-style, or whatever’s in the vegetable crisper that needs to be used up…
Next time, I might just take Ava’s ham suggestion and substitute some smoked Provolone (at your cheese suggestion)…could be a real winner!
Well there you go Greg. I thought if anyone would know if cheesy coleslaw were a thing, you would. Adding cheese to coleslaw makes it soooooo addictive. WARNING, you will be sneaking to the fridge in the middle of the night for a big spoonful!
I, in turn, have never had coleslaw with fruit in. How much we learn from these crazy cooking experiments eh?!
Do you think maybe they mean the white of a hard cooked egg chopped?
Tony, you know what? You might be right! I might make this again with some hard-boiled egg white! Jenny x