Creamy Coleslaw and Remembering Bingham’s

Coleslaw is one of those foods that I either love or hate.  If it’s made well (translation: to my particular liking), I can’t enough of the stuff.   I think the best coleslaw I have ever tasted was at Bingham’s Family Restaurant in Lenox, PA.  It was perfectly creamy with a hint of sweetness and a little kick.  Of course, I’m not surprised that their coleslaw was fabulous.  Everything I’ve ever ordered from Bingham’s was wonderful.

There were many Saturday nights when we would stop for dinner on our way home from Lackawanna State Park (our son’s favorite fishing hole!).  Chicken and biscuits, coleslaw and homemade carrot cake (or caramel apple pie for Jim).  It was always the perfect end to the perfect day.

Unfortunately, this past April Bingham’s was destroyed by fire.   What a sad day.  My heart went out to the family and employees.  I know, first hand, what it’s like to loose your family business to a fire.  I’m hopeful that the family will decide to rebuilt.

OK, back to my point.  Coleslaw.  I went on a quest to find a recipe that would compare to Bingham’s coleslaw.  Creamy.  Sweet.  Not too tangy.  And a little kick. So I did a little research and came up with a combination that sounded right to me.

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The Recipe

5 cups shredded green cabbage
5 cups shredded red cabbage
2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup finely sliced green onions
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tbsp Creole mustard or other coarse-grained mustard
3 tbsp Horseradish

In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, and mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt.  Add cabbage, carrots and onion.  Mix well.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Is it a Keeper?

This was a great recipe!  It was very creamy with a little sweetness and little kick from the horseradish.  Everyone at my family picnic seemed to really enjoy it — especially my sister!  Next time, however, I’ll make a few changes.

First,  I don’t think I’ll use red cabbage.  The red color bleeds too much.  Besides the recipe uses half of head of each cabbage.  By eliminating the red cabbage, I’ll be using a whole head of regular cabbage.

Also, I think I’m going to cut down on the vinegar.  It was a bit too tangy.  And ,the sauce was a bit thin too.

To make the assembly easier, I sliced the cabbage and carrots in my food processor.  Everything was chopped super fast!  All in all, though, this recipe is definitely worth keeping — just with a few tweaks!

I don’t know if this recipe is EXACTLY like Bingham’s, but it’s a pretty close second.  I send all my best to the Bingham family and hope that they decide to rebuild their restaurant.  It’s surely missed by my family (and I’m sure there are countless others who feel the same way).

Oh, and I apologize for the lack of photo.  It got gobbled up before I could pull my camera out of my purse!

If you’ve been to Bingham’s, what was your favorite meal or dessert?

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