Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Making Salad Dressing


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I have made salad dressings a few times but it is not something I do on a regular basis. My inspiration? A couple things…..first I went on a field trip with by boy a few weeks back before school was out. It was at Old Fort Western. I think I enjoyed it more then the kids. Here the staff talked and demonstrated how life was back in the 1700’s. One of the stations a woman made up some goodies from the kitchen garden. She made a simple dressing for the salad which consisted only of cider vinegar, water, and sugar and to my surprise it tasted pretty dang good. Easy & tasty…..caught my interest for sure!

Then about a week ago I was going back reading Food In Jar’s blog and I saw her post on how to make Chive Blossom Vinegar. Perfect timing because my chives were in full bloom! So I popped the flowers off the tops, rinsed them, filled a canning jar then added vinegar (white distilled vinegar). It sat on my counter looking real pretty for about a week. I strained it and what I had left was some cool looking pink vinegar that smelled divine (like onions).

I refrigerated the remains although I am not sure that was necessary and made a simple vinaigrette based out of a recipe I clipped out of a magazine (Cooking Light 2010) and revised to my own likings.


This recipe is approximately 4 servings

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

4 tablespoons of “Chive Blossom Vinegar” (doesn’t that sound fancy?)

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

12 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

Place all the ingredients in a canning jar, cover, shake it all about and serve immediately

SIMPLE, EASY & CHEAP!! That’s how I roll. Would love to hear what you make for dressings. If you have a link to share from a previous post of your own creations I love to read and I’m sure others would too!

6 comments:

Kelly said...

Oh, I have to try this. My chives are smaller this year. I don't know why.

Anonymous said...

Hello Mainers, We go to Acadia every 2-3 years. I hope you like this salad dressing recipe. It is my favorite, and it is from a restaurant in Baltimore's Litty Italy called Chiaparelli's.
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. sugar
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
3/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese (the cheap store brand equivalent to Kraft parmesan works fine)
whisk everything together. I hope you enjoy it.
Lynne in Annapolis, MD

Anonymous said...

That should have been "Little Italy" typo.

Heather said...

That sounds lovely. I'm going to give it a try (although I don't have near that many chive blossoms). Your jar full of blossoms looks gorgeous.

cooterhollow said...

OH, consider me a part of this club. I -knew- there was something useful to do with the blossoms.

Country Girl said...

Anonymous thanks for the recipe, I will definitely try!