food lab

Something Actually Simple – Vinaigrette

~ mary_m ~ 1 Comment

As I think I’ve mentioned before, my family eats a lot of the following salad: arugula, apple, toasted almonds, sherry vin. If we happen to be missing one of the essential ingredients, the basic formula still usually works: leaves, fruit, nuts, vin. If it weren’t for this trick, we’d have a much harder time filling in the “vegetable” part of dinner.

Historically, I’m an incredibly lazy vinaigrette maker. Pour some vinegar in an empty spice jar, add some oil (about 3x the vinegar, but I never measure), add some salt and pepper, maaaaybe add something else to complement the flavors. Shake. Pour on salad and toss. I read recently, in The Food Lab, that emulsified dressing just works better. (The leaves get more evenly coated and wilt less.) I was still too lazy to try it, however, until something else I read, in my kids’ Raddish subscription, pointed out that there exist good dressing emulsifiers other than mustard. Now, I’ve leveled up my dressing game.

Basic Vinaigrette Ratio

  • 1 part something acidic: Vinegar, Lemon juice, Wine, etc.
  • 3 parts oil
  • 1/2 part (or a bit more or a bit less, to taste) something binding or emulsifying: Mustard, Honey, Yogurt, Mayonnaise, Egg Yolk (if you’re using the dressing immediately)
  • Seasonings

Add all ingredients to a jar. Shake until well-blended. Pour on salad. Toss.

Some more specific examples:

Honey Mustard: 1 T apple cider vinegar, 3 T sunflower or other neutral oil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey, salt, black pepper – good on spinach based salads

Basic Balsamic: 1 T balsamic vinegar, 3 T olive oil, 1 slightly smushed garlic clove, 1 tsp honey, salt, black pepper, maybe some thyme. Add the garlic clove to the vinegar before everything else. If storing before use, remove the garlic after about fifteen minutes.

Sherry Vin: 1 T sherry vinegar, 3 T olive oil, 1 tsp honey, salt, black pepper, the tiniest bit of vanilla paste or extract – really good on salads with apples.

I plan to start experimenting more with yogurt or mayo as the binder. I suspect this will be great with more herb focused dressings (which are great with iceberg, bib lettuce, etc.).

Thanks, Food Lab and Raddish!

I <3 Food Writing (More than Recipes)

~ mary_m ~ 1 Comment

I own a full bookcase worth of cookbooks. It is only one bookcase because every time (OK, sometimes a year after every time) it goes over, I do an emotionally traumatic cull and let something go. I love my cookbooks.

I don’t cook much out of books, though. I read them, often cover to cover when I first get them, and then I keep them around for inspiration. If I’m attempting something new or complicated (or old and beloved but not set in stone), I’ll pull out a few different books to read their variations on the theme. I’m generally too non-compliant to follow any recipe word for word. (Unless its chemistry dictates that as the only wise choice, and sometimes, to my chagrin, not even then.)

I sometimes forget that my non-compliance runs deep when I discover new (to me) online food writing. I love reading food blogs as much as I love cookbooks. When I fall in love with a writer, I’ll often try their recipes word for word. And then, after the first few, I relearn the lesson. I’m just not wired that way.

Today, it was the Food Lab’s Ultra-Gooey Stovetop Mac and Cheese. This is an awesome article, full of both science and cheese. I wanted to love the recipe, too. More than that, I hoped to convince my kids to love it, especially the one who refuses to eat “good” mac and cheese, but loves the box kind. This one has real cheese! No dice, though. Too gooey. I suppose I should have guessed from the name and I definitely should have guessed from the cheese to pasta ratio, but I wanted to believe! Next time, I’ll use twice as much pasta. (You may love it as written! I know people who do! Maybe we’re just weird anti-goo people. Sure is a lot of cheese to pasta though.)