The good old classic coleslaw, it almost goes synonymous with a summer holiday weekend.  Coleslaw goes with anything, especially anything that has been grilled.  This summer in NYC, we visited one of my favorite delis, the one that brings a big metal bowl of pickles and one of coleslaw to every table.  I couldn’t even wait for my corned beef sandwich to come, I just had to dig right in.  Fortunately there were six of us, so they brought us a few bowls of coleslaw, because I plowed through one of them pretty quickly.  By the time my sandwich came, I had to dig into the second bowl.  Their coleslaw is amazing, there is no mayonnaise, just a vinegar dressing that the cabbage has been soaking in for probably days.  It is crunchy and absolutely addicting – by itself, or in between a sandwich that is already bigger than your mouth.  Oh wait, and did I tell you about the chocolate soda they bring around after your meal?  Just classic.

I decided to make some coleslaw to go with our BBQ, and I searched for a recipe that would be good, and I just couldn’t find anything that appealed to me – until I found this on Epicurious (from Bon Appetit).  I figured since it was called Classic Coleslaw, I couldn’t go wrong.  Really what sold me on the recipe was the fact that it had diced dill pickles and pickle juice in the dressing.  I decided to change the recipe slightly though, and added radicchio instead of purple cabbage, for a nice twist.  I was glad I did, I liked the slight bitterness with the tangy dressing.  So – it still didn’t hold a candle to the deli coleslaw, but it was still classic in its own way.  Look at that picture, is that classic coleslaw or what?

Ingredients