Vinaigrette

January 1 seems like an auspicious time to actually start posting the onion blog.  I had originally intended to start with soup but I made this vinaigrette last night and it was so delicious I thought it was a nice simple beginning.

We put it over smoked salmon that was a little dry and it gave that fish quite a kick.  I also had some roasted potatoes that were quite happy to be dressed with it.   I believe it’s a Nicoise salad dressing.  Since Nicoise salad has potatoes, green beans, fish and hard boiled eggs, this dressing would go nicely with any of those foods.

Some rules of thumb:

• A vinaigrette is traditionally 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil.
• You can add about a tsp. of mustard for every 1/2 cup of dressing.
• Use a good quality olive oil for more flavour.  
• If you are using a very nice, expensive olive oil you might want to have proportionately more olive oil. 
• Add pepper and herbs and spices to taste.

I’m giving you the recipe as it stands.  I used a Meyer lemon and it yielded about 4 Tbsp. of juice.  So I added a bit more olive oil to compensate.  I also think I would use a tad less mustard next time.

I discovered Herb’s crushed garlic last year.  I actually met Herb, who was demo-ing it at Bosa’s in Burnaby.  He assured me he used North American garlic - I don’t like to use garlic from China.  Paul bought me a kilo container just before Christmas. (I asked him to get the biggest one and had no idea it came in one kilo jugs.  Oops.  Needless to say, I’m putting garlic in everything these days.)
Ironically, there are no onions in this first recipe.

Vinaigrette

Combine the following ingredients in a small bowl:
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced/crushed
1/2 tsp dried tarragon ( or 1/4 tsp oregano)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk.









*Thyme is a good spice for cutting down on the “fishy” taste of some fish.