Herb Vinegar Chapter 2: Basic Salad Dressing

Like making soups, stews, stir-fries, tossed salads, and the like, making salad dressing is a process. Making salad dressings at home is wonderful because you are in control of the ingredients and can adjust the flavors to your own liking. 

Here is an idea to get you started:

1/2 cup herb vinegar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use Florida Crystals  since most granulated sugar comes from GMO sugar beets and I am doing my best to avoid GMO food)

1 t salt (I use sea salt)

1 t Penzeys Forward (optional, if you don't have it, it is OK. You could use paprika instead if you have some on hand)

1 t dry mustard

I cup olive, vegetable, or canola oil

In a medium sized bowl, whisk all of the ingredients EXCEPT the oil to blend them. Then add the oil in a steady, thin stream, whisking all the while. I use the whisk on a hand-held mixer on low speed. You can  also use a food processor or blender, but why have an extra appliance to clean?

If you are not using the dressing immediately, transfer your salad dressing to a bottle or jar (with lids) and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before dressing tossed salads.

Naturally, you can tweak this recipe. Try adding spices, such as paprika, , garlic powder, lemon zest, celery seed....you get the idea. Usually  1/2 - 1 teaspoon of any is a good amount to try. You can always add more if you think it needs it, but it's not so easy to take away an overspill...LOL. :)

Here I must add that this is a very tart dressing. If you like sweeter dressing, add more sugar. I put most of the dressing I made today in an old-fashioned Good Seasonings mixer/server bottle that I found at my local Goodwill store. I put the rest of the dressing in a jelly jar. To this, I am going to add honey, and dig around in my spice cupboard to see what combos I can come up with. 

You can do it, too! Put on your "Mad  Glad Scientist" hat and create your own recipe! Who knows? You might just come up with an award-winning recipe for pasta or potato salad, all because of your unique dressing :)

Creativity. That's what I'm talkin' about!!

Marcheta *Kitchen "Glad"iator 

Making Herbal Vinegars

I became interested in herb gardens in the early 70's, shortly after I was married. I love the textures and aromas of fresh herbs. To me, having garden fresh herbs makes cooking an adventure. But you don't need a garden to have fresh herbs to cook with; many types of herbs are happy to grow in containers.

In the late 70's I read about making herb vinegar. Some years, if I am feeling ambitious, I make a few because, well....just because!

Herb vinegars are good for marinades and salad dressing, but mostly I like the way the bottles 'dress up' the kitchen. :)

Earlier this Spring I made half a gallon of chive vinegar. Making herb vinegar is super easy. All you need to do is to fill a glass container with the herbs you've selected and then cover them with vinegar. I use white vinegar, but rice vinegar or any other vinegar that does not have a strong taste on its own is good to use. Strong tasting vinegars, like apple vinegar, do not let the herbal flavors come through.

It takes a few weeks for the vinegar to draw out the herb's flavors, but you can let it go even longer. When the vinegar's flavor is at a strength that you like, strain the herbs out and place back in the glass container or, as most people do, transfer it to a pretty bottle.

A common practice in bottling the vinegar is to 'label' it the old-fashioned way by adding sprigs of the herbs in the bottle to identify the type of vinegar inside.

I waited until the chives bloomed to bottle the vinegar because I wanted to add chive blossoms to the bottle. I love chive blossoms because they look like clovers :)

Even though I had artfully arranged the chive stems with blossoms in the bottle, it was for naught when I added the vinegar because the blossoms all floated to the top. Still, it's kinda pretty, and the blossoms will give the vinegar a faint purply-pink color.

I re-used the same bottle that held Bill Bebee's mead. You can't see it in this pic, but the bottle has a pretty raised floral motif near the bend of the neck. I think it is a lovely bottle for herb vinegar as well as sweet honey wine (read blog post about Bill's mead here.) 



Tomorrow I'll give ideas for using herbal vinegars :)

Marcheta *got that "Chive Talking" thing going again...

Chive Talkin'

This picture looks like a clump of grass, but actually it is onion chives. :)

Chives are the easiest thing to grow (other than weeds). Soon they will take on another persona; their blooms look like purple clover blossoms. That is why I think they fit the lyrics to "Jive Talkin'" by the BeeGees ~ "...it's your chive talkin', you wear a disguise"....LOL (I crack myself up at times, especially early in the morning or late at night when my brain cells are running free and not lined up for serious thinking).

Yesterday was my first 'harvest' of 2013. I snipped off a handful of chives, rinsed them, and cut up half of them to add to homemade macaroni salad. The chives gave the otherwise pale salad some color while adding a nice mild onion flavor.

Chives are a wonderful addition to any garden. These are growing outside my kitchen door, making it handy to go snip off what I need when I need them. They are also easy to dry or freeze for later use. We also have garlic chives growing in a garden by the barn, but I haven't checked on them yet. I'll bet they are ready to add some fresh zing to salads, potatoes, soups, etc., too!

Another item I make with chives is Chive Vinegar. Simply wash and cut up enough chives to fill a glass mason jar and pour white vinegar over the chives to fill the jar. Let steep in a cool dark spot (like a cupboard) for about two weeks, then strain the vinegar into a prettier bottle. If you have chive blooms at bottling time, they make a nice addition to the presentation.

I have a jar of chive vinegar going now. When I bottle it, I will post a picture to illustrate what I am talking about.

Meanwhile....my taste buds are not-so-patiently waiting for the next harvest from our garden...asparagus!

Marcheta *anticipation....