Vinaigrette

I have been making my own salad dressings, namely vinaigrettes for years now. I really am always disappointed with the pre-made junk you get at the store. Having worked in a professional kitchen and worked the garde manger station (cold station) for many a dinner service, I made all of our dressings. From Blue Cheese to Balsamic Vin, from Sherry Shallot to a Warm Red Wine, Panceta Vinaigrette. It's fun, tastier, and easy. Just pick flavors you like.

Here are a few recipes. Remember though I do it all by eye and taste. You have to taste everything, preferably with a few leaves of lettuce. Let me also say I love the acidic side of vinaigrettes.



Classic Mustard Vinaigrette:

This super simple recipe is a summer classic that works well on a house salad, on potato salad, and pretty much my go to recipe, because I always have most of the ingredients around.

Ingredients:
Mustard (Brown or Dijon)
Vinegar (Cider, Champagne, White, Red Wine)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (although there are so many great oils that are out there, i.e., sesame oil)
Garlic (Fresh chopped preferred, but dried, granulated works)
Salt (little if any)
Pepper (i love pepper, but a few fresh grinds are good)
Fresh Herbs (if you have them, Chives, Parsley, Thyme are all great and add great color)

Option 1 (Old School):
So add the mustard and vinegar to the bowl with the garlic, salt and pepper, herbs. mix thoroughly with a whisk.
Slowly drizzle in olive oil. If you are pouring directly from a bottle you bought, hold a finger over the end to slow the flow. You want to add the oil slowly so that it incorporates almost instantly, if it appears "oily" slow down the oil.
(TIP: if you are using a metal bowl that moves easily when whisking, wrap a kitchen towel into a ring around the base of the bowl. This stablizes the bowl from moving too much when whisking. A damp cloth work even better).

Option 2 (Blender):
Use your blender or food processor and add everything but the oil and herbs (you can add chopped herbs at the very end for a final pulse). Open the top of the blender cap and drizzle in oil. This is easier, but I don't own a blender or food processor, and it seems silly for small quantities.

That's it. You can make some many variations of the above vinaigrette by just changing the acids (citrus juices or vinegars) or the oils.