Caper and Cider Vinegar Vinaigrette
Description
A good, basic vinaigrette is a cook's good friend. Of course it's a low-calorie and satisfying dressing for a salad, but it's also yummy on seasonal, fresh vegetables, fish, pasta and even some meats. Make a batch at the beginning of the week and keep it in the refrigerator to use throughout the week when you need a pick-me-up for a meal. I like to make it and store it in my OXO dressing shaker.
Please, please, please use a very good quality oil for this recipe! Oil is the main ingredient in the dressing and using rancid or bad oil will ruin your meal.
I mostly use olive oil for my vinaigrettes, but I also like to experiment with different nut oils such as pecan and walnut. Either will give a delightfully nutty flavor to your salads, pastas and vegetables.
Also don't be afraid to try out different vinegars and fresh herbs in this recipe. A friend recently gave me some fresh tarragon from her garden. I rinsed it and popped it into the vinaigrette I'd made earlier in the week and it was wonderful! Rosemary and thyme are also delightful. I always throw in about a teaspoon of dried Herbes de Provence that I grind up using my mortar and pestle along with the salt. I find the combination of herbs in this blend to be fresh and versatile.
The only vinegar I would be careful with is balsamic. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of balsamic vinegar, as I think it overpowers any other flavors it comes in contact with, but I know a lot of folks like it a lot. If you use balsamic, start by using only a couple of tablespoons to 3/4 cup of olive oil. Add more if you like, but start there.
In a post in the near future, I will be featuring vinegar from a small batch vinegar maker, whose vinegars I'm obsessed with at the moment. So stay tuned!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Using your mortar and pestle, grind the Herbes de Provence and salt into a powder.
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Mince the shallot, garlic and capers.
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Add the salt, Herbes de Provence, shallot, garlic, white pepper, vinegar, oil, capers and mustard into the shaker (or bowl) and shake vigorously. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Make a new batch of vinaigrette every few days and leave it in the fridge for use anytime. Enjoy!
Note
I have done some experimentation with vinaigrettes after writing this recipe, mainly with emulsification and emulsifiers. Whole grain and Dijon mustard work pretty well as emulsifiers owing to the lecithin that coats the mustard seed. If, like myself, you're not a huge fan of Dijon or whole grain mustard, garlic paste works really well as an emulsifier. You can purchase garlic paste pre-made, but I worry that it's past its prime. Fortunately, making garlic paste is really easy: put a couple of cloves in a plastic bag and pound it with your meat mallet. In short order, the garlic becomes a paste and the resulting vinaigrette actually stays in suspension longer than the one made with mustard. If you go the garlic route, you can reduce the amount of mustard in this recipe by 1/2.
