Do you have a house dressing?

I mean, a salad dressing unique to your house?  A “house” dressing?

Well, it’s time…

I’m going to let you in on the secret vinaigrette that I’ve adopted from all of my relatives in France.

It is the mother vinaigrette.  Meaning that from here, you can add, subtract, and make any variation of my dressing and call it yours!

 

This recipe will dress a salad that serves 4.  You can double, triple, quadruple this to meet your family’s, your friends’ and your hostessing needs!

Start with a vessel of your preference:  I am using a tiny canning jar, 4 oz.  Feel free to use a bowl, a salad dressing bottle, a mug, a sippy cup, whatever you have on hand…

 

 

Now add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and about 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

 

 

Next add a ‘smidge’ of mustard…not really a technical cooking measurement, but necessary to describe this tiny amount!  Emphasis on tiny.  There should just be a subtle hint of mustard in your dressing, or else if you add too much, it’ll take over and be very strong…

speaking of strong…this is the only Dijon mustard I use.  It’s the only one you’ll see on the shelf of a French pantry.  And it packs some punch!

Again with a small quantity…this is perhaps a 1/4 of a garlic clove.  And I think I actually only grated about 1/2 of that into my dressing.

I grate the garlic into my dressing, because then it’s more easily incorporated and your guests or family don’t end up with a giant chunk of garlic on their lettuce leaf.

Add 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of water, 4 teaspoons vegetable oil.

 

Shake vigorously!  Wait, wait, wait!!!!!   Put the lid on first!!!   Aaaaaaaugh!  I hope that I didn’t cause you to make a mess over there…

Yummy…you’re all done.  Congrats!

You can now ask your guests whether they’d like Ranch, Russian, Thousand Island or House dressing with their salad!

Note:  You can make this yours in so many ways…add shallots, add olive oil, replace white wine vinegar with tarragon/champagne/red wine/balsamic vinegar, remove the mustard, replace the dijon with wasabi mustard, use smoked salt, etc…