Don’t forget that simplified vinaigrettes, like olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar in a saucer, plus a few pinches of dry herbs, can make delicious dips for your bread fresh from the oven.
| 3 parts | olive oil |
| 1 part | red wine vinegar |
| squirt | lemon juice (optional) |
| squirt | balsamic vinegar (optional) |
| — | salt |
| — | pepper |
| — | sugar |
| — | minced garlic |
| — | garlic |
| — | oregano (optional) |
| — | basil (optional) |
If you use ¾ cup of olive oil and ¼cup vinegar plus the squirts of lemon juice and balsamic, your other ingredients will go roughly like this:
| ½ cup | mayonnaise |
| ¼ cup | grated parmesan cheese |
| ¼ cup | buttermilk |
| 1½ tsp | minced garlic |
| ½ tsp | minced fresh parsley |
| ½ tsp | lemon juice |
I found this in a little grill in Salt Lake City one evening near the library while I was waiting for a meeting to start. It was served over Romaine and very delicious.
I don’t know how well this recipe scales—I never actually measure ingredients for a vinaigrette myself anyway, so this is an approximation.
| 1 cup | extra virgin olive oil | |
| 2-3 tbsp | Balsamic vinegar | |
| 1-2 tsp | honey | |
| a few drops | lemon juice | |
| — | salt | |
| — | fine-ground pepper | |
| — | additional spices or seasonings to taste |
There is no such thing as “Broken Vinaigrette.” A broken vinaigrette is a class of vinaigrettes in which no emulsion of vinegar and oil is attempted.
In fact, quite the contrary: care is taken not to emulsify and this is the important feature. Any vinaigrette that isn’t so elaborate as to deny the saliency of oil and vinegar appearing in separate, but intermixed beads on the plate is a broken vinaigrette.
| ½ cup | extra virgin olive oil |
| ¼ cup | Balsamic vinegar |
| 1 clove | garlic, smashed |
| 1 sprig | fresh rosemary |
1. Place garlic, rosemary and olive oil in saucepan over medium heat until you can smell the aromas and the oil is warm. This is to bloom the oil-soluble aromas in oils of the rosemary and garlic. Remove from heat and allow to sit for one hour so oil becomes aroma-infused.
Strain oil into small bowl. Add balsamic and very lightly stir with a small spoon. What you want is to keep the vinegar and oil separate so you get these cool looking beads of vinegar floating in the oil.