Cookin' with Leo
By
Leocthasme
Salad Dressings to Love
Now then, this here is fer all the folks what went on diets or whatever after all the hoop-la and holiday celebrations. An' fer all us Rednecks what stuffed our faces with fattening foods and frosty frothy foamy Colorado Cool Aid while watchin' all the bowls and playoffs, here is how we are gonna' get back in shape.. And, of course, I do have to show off here once in a while, and make my readers think I am a connoisseur, well some kind of a sewer, and do something that improves my intellectual improvisations whichever. So herewith, are some salad dressings what ya'll can do at home and save a cache of cash instead of spendin' hard earned money on them little store bought bottles of stuff what cost 3 bucks or more. These here are gonna cost less than two bits a bucket, whatever. And, not only that, in the Spring everyone's fancy turns to greens, whenever.
OK, here are the basics of some salad dressings and you don't need much more. Cause this stuff goes on all sort of veggies. and I'll give you some examples as we go.
Use Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar, the basic ingredients plus salt and pepper, some folks think sugar belongs in salad dressing, but don't Use It, you don't need it here. You will need some other things like dry mustard and some Real Lemon and Real Lime juice, and even some heavy cream. If you got all that stuff, then let's get going with a simple basic dressing.
This goes on such things as cabbage slaw and tomatoes:
¼ to 1/3 vinegar, depending on body and strength, to one part Olive Oil.
salt and pepper to taste.
Add the salt and pepper to the vinaigrette and blend well, now slowly add the oil and whisk until thoroughly blended and thickened into an emulsion.
That's it, now you got the basic.
Bigger and better green and red salad--then add some mustard:
A nice addition to salad dressing is mustard as it gives a more complex flavor and makes a thicker emulsion. Try this.
2 tablespoons dry mustard, Dijon is fine it you have it.
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons Oil.
Mix the salt, pepper, and mustard into the vinegar, blend it well.
Now add the oil slowly and whisk into a thick emulsion resembling mayonnaise.
Ok let's get fancy now. This is something that goes on cucumbers and such.
When you use cream as the oil basic you need to beat it into a light whipped cream as this adds body and the air beaten into it resists curdling when acid is added.
And if we are going to substitute the Lime or Lemon Juice for the Vinegar, then,
Here is a great Creamy Dressing:
1 pint Whipping Cream
3 - 4 ounces Real Lime or Real Lemmon or some of each.
Salt and pepper
Beat the Whipping Cream until it is light and fluffy. Set aside in a cool place.
Mix the salt and pepper into the Juice.
Now slowly blend the Juice mixture into the whipped cream. Folding in will help the whipped cream stay fluffy and keep the air from being forced out. Place this dressing into the fridge until ready for use.
And, here's something a little simpler, and can be used as a somewhat different dressing for any salad:
Lemon or Lime dressing:
Make sure you use Olive Oil here. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best. You may have gotten by with some of that cheap vegetable oil before but now I'm telling you to use the good stuff here.
1 -1 ½ oz. Real Lime and/or Real Lemon juice.
4 oz Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the salt and pepper into the Juice
Slowly blend the oil into the juice mixture Whisk it to create a smooth emulsion.
There you are, enough dressing to put on all your veggies and keep you slim and trim and full of vim. You should survive until the kids bring home all the goodies on Valentines Day.
Ya'll stay real healthy now until the Fertility Festival, whatever.
| 
