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Many of you know that I spent about 20 years in public service, pretty much evenly split between firefighting and law enforcement. I’ve been debating saying something about this storm we’re in, and now I guess I will. It should go without saying that these are my thoughts, not gospel, but I’ll say it anyway.
There are definitely problems with our system. Injustice is certainly primary among them. Frankly, I see a lot of signs that lead me to believe that we’re probably not much of a democracy anymore. Our world is, in many ways, controlled by the 1% super-rich, politically motivated. Government is tacitly run by these poeple, and to a slightly lesser degree, big business in general. The buck speaks far louder than our protests. These people as a population are not at all like the rest of us. What we face every day means little or nothing to the majority of that minority. They live above law, justice, and the ills that beset the rest of the world. Even if they do good, like a Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, being a billionaire means they have no idea about what day to day living is about. They fear literally none of the things we do, simply because they never deal with them.
That said, the injustices we face are far broader than the media would have you believe, and no media facet is free of that truth, not NPR, BBC, or Al Jazira, or U.S. News & World Report. The media is absolutely, with no question, guided by the same tenet I outlined above. The buck speaks loudest. They report what pays them, in income, listeners, readers, watchers. The sooner we as a people stop listening to and depending on popular media to get a grasp on what’s happening, the sooner we can affect a solution. Media as an unbiased vehicle for the reporting of events is broken, perhaps irrevocably in its current form. It exists predominantly as a voice for the money and power behind any given perspective represented. The sooner we admit and accept that, the sooner we can start fixing things.
Our government, all three branches, legislative, judicial, and executive, is broken. It is bloated, ineffective, and out of control. Like the stock market in the summer of 1929, this government reflects only itself; it has almost nothing to do with us. The kind of people who are drawn to this form of service are not like us. Oh, there are a few good eggs, certainly. I know several who have and do serve faithfully, with the best intent, and do an admirable job; they are, unfortunately, very much a minority. Look at the blatant politics of the Federal judicial branch and tell me what you see. I see a reflection of those One Percenters I spoke of, again, with a few notable exceptions. Look at the Federal Legislative branch. About 47% of the members of both the senate and house are millionaires; is that what your neighborhood looks like? And what about the things our government does for us. Yes, Social Security and Medicaid takes a good bite out of the annual budget, and frankly, I think that’s as it should be, (call me a socialist if you like, but I prefer Agrarian Anarchist). About 1% of the annual federal budget goes to education. About 2% goes toward science and research. Infrastructural upkeep gets about 3%. Virtually all forms of non-military international aid get another 1%. On the other side of things, the military gets 19%. I also have friends serving, past and present, and that’s not at all a condemnation of the job done by folks like us. It is, however, a very telling emphasis, is it not?
Plato noted that, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” While ‘inferior’ might seem a harsh term, the ethics, morals, and general decorum we see displayed in government these days would indicate that he’s still not far off the mark. William Tecumseh Sherman famously said, “If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.” That can be seen either as a derivation of the adage that the nature of the job dictates that those most qualified to serve would not, or possibly that the man knew his place in the scheme of things and chose to remain there. Would that more of our current ‘leaders’ had been so wise…
What are we to think of the latest wave of bad behaviors by cops, protestors, prosecutors, governors, and the like? The government representatives among that list are reflecting what I wrote above. Right, wrong, or indifferent, that’s a fact. The media is helping to paint all cops as murderers and psychopaths, all protestors as rabid looters, all prosecutors as crooked, and all governors as ineffective. All of that is, quite frankly, crap. Especially among the cops and the protestors, I can assure you that most are frustrated, scared, basically decent human beings. The fringes are not the whole cloth; if you hear anything I’ve written, hear that. I have friends on facebook, people I like and admire, painting all cops as sadistic killers mindlessly ruling a police state. Frankly, every single one of those folks that have posted some picture or quote or statement to that effect have just about zero idea of what actually being in such a position entails. For the record, I personally do not like what I have seen and heard about the two cops currently in the klieg lights; I don’t trust either of them, and I don’t believe them, and I don’t defend their behavior. I do not care for the management or tactics of either department either; I think they’re genuinely abhorrent. That said, none of you, not one that I have seen fomenting this rabid attack on the nature and behavior of all cops, has even a remote clue about what it is like to genuinely fight for your life. Three times in my career, an unarmed man or men went for my gun. On one occasion, a guy much bigger than me was literally picking me up off the ground by yanking on the grip of my weapon, trying to get it out of the holster; thank God for dependable retention. I did not shoot anyone in those instances, but believe me, the thought was definitely on my mind, and if I could have, I probably would have. I’d tell you that, were you in that situation, you well might have too. You people don’t seem to understand one very important truth: you pay cops and firefighters to deal with the shit that you can’t deal with. What you run from in terror, we run toward, to figure out, in the heat of the moment, what the hell is going on, and what we need to do to stop it. If you screw up at work, something bad happens; when we do, people die, sometimes for all the wrong reasons; it’s the wrong reasons that need to be addressed. The old adage that either of those jobs is 99% boredom and 1% Holy Shit is absolutely true. And after we’ve dealt with that 1% as the fallible humans we are, you endlessly dissect, critique, condemn, and castigate without a second thought. Armchair quarterbacks are always right…
So, back to those two cops; I don’t like them or trust them, but I can sure understand how things get out of hand. It’s not right, at all, but then again, neither are all the rest of us humans a fair share of the time. The system, just like our government, is badly bent, and needs straightening. If and when it does get fixed, keep in mind that you’ll still need people to do those jobs.
And then there’s the race card. I personally believe that we are all one; differences are skin deep and no more. None of that means that I don’t have biases; I do, as we all do. America has a race problem, without a doubt. It is blatant at times, sometimes subtle, but always there, and always a problem. I’m a WASP, so my forbearers stormed this country and took it by force, (you don’t need to read Gun, Germs & Steel to better understand that, but it can’t hurt). White Americans, regardless of our personal stripe, are colored with the bloody cloth of that past. There is no glib, snappy answer to solve that problem. I’ll go so far as to say that, at root cause, race issues among humans are likely not solvable. That statement is predicated on my belief that Robin Dunbar is likely correct; a hundred and some social relationships is the limit for us. Whether its Shiite versus Sunni, Dinka against Nuer, or Czechs and Bosnians, give a group of humans enough members and they’ll find a way to be at each others throats. Religion, politics, skin tone, language, food, land, anything and everything will be a bone of contention; it’s in our nature. I suppose one could infer from that synopsis that we’ve not come very far from our primal roots, and I’d say that’s absolutely true.
I’ve heard folks say this reminds them of ’64 in the south, or the Arab Spring. I personally hope that it is that kind of moment in history, because God knows we need it. I decry the events that lead us here, but sometimes, that’s what it takes to wake up a people and a nation. And since I’m on a roll, I’ll ask, where is religion in all this? In the 60s, the Protestant faiths were exactly that, protesting what was going on, an exhorting their flocks to get involved in making changes. Remember the Berrigan brothers? Where are our modern incarnations? The fact is that American religion has been through roughly two decades of a concerted attack by hard core right wing politics. Just as they did with governance, the rabid right attacked church after church, dividing and conquering, until at this point of critical need, the voice of faith is heard only dimly, a shadow of its former self.
Now the question becomes, what are we gonna do about it? Are you willing to wake up, step out of your routine, find ways to constructively and effectively change what’s broken? If not, I’ll politely invite you to clam up. If so, then right on; let’s light this candle, because it sure is past time.
Here’s a particularly sobering piece from the Environmental Working Group on arsenic levels in rice that y’all should read, (And thanks to Sis Annie for the link). Sadly, rice has a particular affinity for the absorption of this poison, and obviously, the source terroir of what we eat has a bearing on things; it’s therefore most prudent for us to be as informed as possible. Rice varieties differ in the amount of arsenic they absorb. The article includes excellent resources for determining and mitigating your potential intake. The ubiquity of rice as a filler and sweetener in processed foods shouldn’t be lost on us. If ever theres a reason to avoid such things in our diets, this would make the top three list, I’d say.
EWG is a great resource for just such information. Check out their Food Scores information for in depth coverage on thousands of products, with an easy to determine healthiness index. there is also a food scores app for iPhone I’ve been testing out for a while now, it’s quite a useful in the store tool, so give it a try as well. there should be an Android version out soon. If you prefer good, old fashioned book form, You can acquire one by donating to the group and help them continue their excellent work.
We’ll be doing some in depth work on wild rice in the near future, with interesting tie ins to this issue, so stay tuned.
Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filé gumbo… Now before y’all go see Michelle o’ me oh, let’s talk about that last one.
This post was inspired by my friend Jenn Digby, a fine Texas lass who one day noticed a strange tree growing in her back yard down around Austin. She posted a pic on Facebook asking what it was, and this ol’ forestry student recognized Sassafras. And that, friends and neighbors, leads straight to filé, a la that ageless Hank Williams hit.
Filé, Pronounced fee-lay, the spicy thickener and spiritual heart of gumbo, is a powder made from the dried and ground leaves of that Sassafras tree (Sassafras albidum), that Jenn found in her yard. That tree is native to North America, and the use of its leaves as a seasoning goes back quite a spell. The Choctaw, who’s home turf included Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, were the first to use dried, ground sassafras leaves as a seasoning. After the British kicked the Acadians out of what is now the Maritime provinces of Canada during the French & Indian War, many of these Frankish expats found their way down to Lousiana; without question, they picked up a cooking trick or two from the Choctaw along the way.
In addition to gumbo, filé may also be deployed for jambalaya or etouffé as well, again, for its distinctive, earthy flavor and thickening power. Filé powder smells kinda like eucalyptus to me, though I know more than one southern cook who swears it reminds them of Juicy Fruit gum, (I don’t get that, I’m afraid). When introduced to a dish, it’s scent has a definite root beer note, but it’s more complex and earthy than that. I’ve also heard folks say it smells like a blend of thyme and savory, and I’d say that’s a pretty apt description as well. In other words, filé is potent, complex, and adds that certain je ne sais quoi that only it can add; there really ain’t no substitute for it.
If you’re old enough, you’ll recall something about Sassafras as a beverage, and indeed, it was. Back when, root beer was flavored with sassafras root, until the FDA labelled that a possible carcinogen, (That is not a viably proven claim, as far as I am concerned, but that’s another story). The compound safrole is the guilty party, but it is not found in sassafras leaves, so fear not from your filé. By the by, I f you find a tree nearby, dig up some roots and peel back the bark, it will smell like root beer, which is most definitely cool.
Finding prepared filé is not hard; you can buy it in any decent grocery store, but as with most things, the better the source, the better the final product. As such, homemade from fresh leaves is obviously the best option. Cajun Cookbook author Tony Chachere, (who sells a very nice filé of his own), says it is best to harvest the leaves during a full moon, and there may well be something to that. Many preservers of old recommended like practice for a number of pursuits, including pickling and making sauerkraut, so why mess with success then, yeah?
If you’re lucky enough to find your own tree, then by all means take advantage. sassafras is a deciduous tree that grows to 30′ to 40′ when mature, with distinctive lobed leaves, like this…
Once you’ve got a leaf source, harvest nice bright green leaves before fall, when they begin to dry out and turn color. Take whole, small branches for this process.
Rinse the leaves thoroughly under cold running water, then allow them to air dry thoroughly by hanging them, branch end up.
Once dried, hand strip the leaves from the branches and crush them by hand onto clean paper.
With a spice grinder or blender, process leaves into as fine a powder as you can get.
Run your powder through a fine mesh sieve, and don’t force anything through.
Store your filé in a dry, dark place as you should all your spices and herbs; sunlight and excessive moisture robs potency, smell and flavor.
Filé is properly used as a table condiment for gumbo, jambalaya, etouffe, or any soup or stew where you’d like that distinctive flavor. I love a bit on everything from chili to chicken noodle, frankly.
Just sprinkle a bit into the top of your bowl; if you let it set a spell, its thickening power will go to work for you. If you want to add filé to a dish as a thickener, do so after you’ve removed your gumbo, etc from heat and prior to serving. Add a pinch, stir it in, and let it work for a minute before you add more. It’s potent stuff, so go lightly, as a heavy hand will make things thicker and stringer than you want, guaranteed.
Now as it happens, Miss Jenn was sweet enough to do all the heavy lifting for us, so all we gotta do is enjoy – Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Homemade dressings taste, feel, look, and are better for you.
Who knows what evil lurks inside?
I have a running food joke; it’s, “I love salad bars, because you can get all sorts of bad stuff and still pretend it’s good for you.” The reality here is that the one ingredient that’s truly not good for you nine times out of ten is dressing. The reason? Because most of the time we’re using commercial dressing. Just the other day, I urged y’all to read the ingredients on something as simple as a can of black beans. Reading the label on the vast majority of store bought bottled dressing is anything but simple.
You’re going to find stuff in 99% of the commercial dressing out there that you probably don’t want to eat, even if they say ‘Organic’, ‘Natural’, etc.; big agribusiness figured out that a lot of us like foods that are better for us these days, and they’ll do anything and everything to not lose our business, including trying to make themselves look like they’re onboard the healthy food train.
The main culprits in the You Don’t Wanna Eat That pantheon are the additives. Sure, the FDA says this stuff is safe in small quantities, but there’s a couple of problems with that. First off, the FDA has a serious track record of approving stuff that turned out to not be good for us, and secondly, even if they were safe, they might well be nutritional bad juju. Remember my piece on corn a while back, how we outlined varieties that aren’t used for eating straight away, but are used in a lot of processed foods? That choice isn’t made because of superior quality. Processed food is rife with substandard, cheap ingredients because making a profit is job one. The vast majority of commercial salad dressings contain way too much fat, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, salt/sodium, unhealthy oils, and way, way too many unpronounceable chemicals.
Reading the label prompted this harangue. M checked out a bottle of Famous Label Ranch: Let’s have a look at what she found. This is not gonna be an exciting post, but it’s important; what you’ll learn here will apply to the stuff in 90%+ of the processed food out there. If it scares you, that’s good.
Commercial ranch dressing; what’s in there?!
First ingredient, (and therefore, the greatest percentage of the overall recipe), is profit, with a pinch of advertising, bottling, and production; that is, uber alles, what we’re buying, right?
Second ingredient, water. That’s the dominant note in actual ingredients. I’m not thrilled about paying $3 to $4 for water, and while we’re at it, I’d kinda like to know what water; from where, processed or filtered how? Hmmm…
Next comes soybean oil; got any of that in your pantry? No? Soybean oil is a highly refined, high heat processed fat. Soybeans don’t give up their oil easily. Far and away the most common extraction method is to employ the industrial solvent Hexane, a highly toxic petroleum byproduct. After being treated with hexane, the oil is heated enough to remove the toxin, or so they say. Next, the oil is treated with hydrogen, (hydrogenated), so that it will blend with water and not spoil quickly. Hydrogenated oils are synonymous with the term ‘Trans Fats’. Let’s just be perfectly clear that this process is done to save money and increase profit; it’s not good for us in any way, shape, or form. Trans fats increase bad cholesterol, (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL), and decrease good cholesterol, (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL). Furthermore, they block the production of chemicals that combat inflammation and benefit our hormonal and nervous systems, while simultaneously allowing chemicals to work that increase inflammation. Finally, soy is higher in phytoestrogens than just about any other food source. Phytoestrogens mimic estrogen in our bodies, and that propensity is known to be a leading cause of breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, infertility, and low libido. In other words, we really aughta avoid this shit like the plague.
Next comes buttermilk, but again, who made it, from what source? Buttermilk is great, but it’s kinda back to the corn argument vis a vis quality, I think.
Next we have maltodextrin; this is a polysaccharide, an artificial sweetener manufactured by applying acids or other enzymes to cornstarch. Unlike simple, natural sweeteners, maltodextrin does not provide any long-term energy benefits that a natural complex carbohydrate will. Those contain vitamins and minerals that help your body use the carbs as energy; maltodextrin doesn’t. It’s also a very large molecule, so your body has to use up a chunk of its own supply of vitamins and minerals to assimilate it. The end result of eating this stuff is that it leads to depletion of important vitamins and minerals. There are also potential side effects to ingesting maltodextrin, including allergic reactions like rashes, asthma, itching and difficulty breathing.
Next two ingredients are sugar and salt, and again, I ask, what sugar and what salt and from where. Care to bet they’re not super high quality stuff?
Now we get to the rest of the things this dressing is made of, all of which are prefaced with ‘Less than 2% of’. Among the ingredients we’ll explore further, you’ll find reasonably good things like garlic, egg yolk, celery purée, carrot purée, dried onion, vinegar, onion purée, and corn oil. All of these could be good stuff for a dressing, but they’re here in tiny amounts and once again, we have no idea of the provenance or quality. Given we’re talking Big Agribiz, chances are very good that the quality sucks.
Onward; next we get ‘natural flavor (Soy)’. Sounds pretty harmless, right? No such luck. Manufacturers these days are acutely aware that a whole bunch of us don’t want Monosodium Glutamate, (MSG), in our food. Even if they say ‘No MSG’ on the label, they well may be lying to us flat out. Why? Because MSG is cheap, and very effective at adding umami taste, that mysterious savory note. Unfortunately, MSG just ain’t good for ya. Side effects can include burning sensations, weakness of the limbs, headaches, upset stomach, and hives or other allergic reactions. Ingredients labeled like the one we found here, as well as ‘yeast extract,’ or ‘hydrolyzed soy protein,’ are nothing more than MSG in disguise. And there’s another example of things the FDA lets manufacturers get away with that they maybe shouldn’t.
Next up on the rogue’s gallery, Modified Food Starch. This stuff is made by physically, enzymatically or chemically altering starch to extend its shelf life, and little else. The most common types of modified food starch are made from corn, wheat, potatoes, and tapioca. Half way decent labels will tell you what kind you’re about to eat, reading something like ‘Modified Corn Starch’. The kicker is that, unless it is derived from one of the top eight allergens as determined by the FDA, they don’t have to tell you from whence it came. You don’t need it or want it in your diet, and that’s a fact.
Next comes Soy Lecithin, which is incredibly pervasive in processed foods. It’s an emulsifier used to help blend disparate ingredients. In other words, it’s something used solely to keep things looking like they should for longer than we aughta be comfortable with. To make soy lecithin, soy oil is ‘degummed,’ mixed with water until the lecithin is hydrated and separates out. It’s then dried, and sometimes bleached with hydrogen peroxide. See above about soy, and ’nuff said.
Then we have Carrageenan. This stuff is an extract of seaweed, and the refining processes are not particularly nefarious, so this should be OK, right? Not necessarily. Although it’s allowed in almost everything over here in America, it’s restricted in the EU, due to possible health concerns regarding inflammation, gut irritation, and even cancer. It’s in here as a thickener, which I’ll point out, we wouldn’t need if they were making this stuff from real, wholesome ingredients.
On to Phosphoric Acid; got a bottle of that on your pantry shelf? It’s in this dressing to make stuff taste tangy, which real vinegar and buttermilk in proper proportion do just fine all on their own. Why is it here? Because it’s a ridiculously cheap, mass-produced chemical. It’s also commonly used for rust removal, by the way. Some Phosphorus is good for you, and fortunately, compounds containing it occur naturally at very low concentrations in milk, meat, poultry, fish, nuts, and egg yolks, (AKA, stuff you might add to real dressings if you were of a mind). Phosphoric acid, on the other hand, has been linked to lower bone density in some epidemiological studies. There are also studies that refute those claims, (Those ones were funded by PepsiCo, FYI…)
Next comes Artificial Flavor. That’s it, just ‘artificial flavor’. Neat, huh?
Next comes Disodium Phosphate, which is made by treating phosphoric acid with a sodium compound. It’s in our dressing here to enhance texture and increase shelf life, (Is that shelf life thing starting to sound like a broken record?) In addition to enhancing your dressing, it’s used in cleaning products, pesticides, and as a corrosion inhibitor.
And then we get Xanthan Gum. This fermented corn sugar polysaccharide sweetener gets its name from a strain of bacteria used during the fermentation process, Xanthomonas campestris, which happens to be the exact same bacteria that causes black rot on broccoli, cauliflower and leafy vegetables. The bacteria forms a slimy substance which acts as a natural stabilizer or thickener. Combined with corn sugar, you get a colorless goo used to increase viscosity and generate a quality known as ‘pseudoplasticity.’ That means that when the product is shaken, it will thin out, and then thicken back up after you stop shaking it.
Next we have it right there in black and white, Monosodium Glutamate; that makes a double dose.
Artificial Color is next, and again, that’s it, just ‘artificial color’.
Next, we get Disodium Inosinate, the first cousin of the Disodium Phosphate above. This junk is used to enhance the effect of MSG. It’s an artificial ingredients there to enhance another artificial ingredient.
Then we got the second cousin, Disodium Guanylate, a chemical additive that intensifies savory flavors. AKA, another artificial to enhance artificials.
Finally, we have Sorbic Acid, Potassium Sorbate, and Potassium Sodium EDTA, ‘as preservatives.’ Sorbic acid occur naturally in many plants, and is also made synthetically; the second ingredient is a salt of the first. Both of these are effective at inhibiting certain strains of yeasts and molds, but they’re not that effective against bacteria. The third member of this troika, Potassium Sodium EDTA, is another story. First off, it’s made from formaldehyde, sodium cyanide, and Ethylenediamine, none of which you should be thrilled about. Secondly, the EDTA part is short for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a chemical salt used to separate heavy metals from dyes and other industrial substances. Beyond that concern for human ingestion, EDTA breaks down in the environment into ethylenediamine triacetic acid and then diketopiperazine. Diketopiperazine is a persistent organic pollutant, similar to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT). Heard enough? Wait, there’s more… See, although your FDA has deemed this stuff safe, it has also put it on a priority list of food additives to be studied for mutagenic, teratogenic, and reproductive effects, AKA, the FDA wants to study it further to see if it is associated with birth defects, cancer or reproductive problems. This ingredient has potential side effects including cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, low blood pressure, skin problems, and fever. Too much of it can do irreparable liver damage. There, now you’ve heard enough.
There you have it. For the record, ranch, cheesy, or creamy commercial dressings are generally the worst offenders when it comes to artificial ingredients, because all that crap is needed to keep something ranchy or creamy way longer than it should be. Don’t even get me started on the fat free or reduced fat stuff; those often have more artificial ingredients in them than the regular versions. Suffice it to note that those versions will not help your body absorb all the nutrients in a fresh salad at all, which natural fats can and will do. What about those dressings kept in the refrigerated section; are they better than their shelf-stable companions? Short answer, you gotta read the labels. Several of the most popular brands are made with soybean oil and still contain a bunch of artificial crap.
To be fair, there are artisanal and organic dressings out there made with good expeller-pressed vegetable oils like canola or sunflower. Expeller-pressed means those oils are mechanically derived instead of extracted via the use of nasty chemicals. The companies that use them usually make a point of putting it on the label, so, as with all things commercial, if it doesn’t say expeller pressed, it probably ain’t.
Granted, not all food additives are bad; salt, sugar, and other naturally derived substances have allowed us to preserve and store food safely for thousands of years. I suppose that some of the artificial stuff we’ve just outlined have a place, given the worldwide food distribution system and the need for folks to eat something when they have nothing; on an occasional basis, bad food is better than starving. I believe wholeheartedly that the majority of issues folks have with food intolerance is due to the ubiquity of all this crap in processed foods. The popular thing these days is to blame everything on gluten, and fact is, that’s probably bullshit. Less than 1% of us are actually gluten intolerant. It’s not the natural stuff, gang, it’s all this artificial crap, and you can take that to the bank.
The fact remains that the whole ‘Green Revolution’ we began foisting on the world back in the middle of the 20th century has been largely a catastrophic failure. Powered by fossil fuels and chemistry, increased yields have lead to large scale poisoning of the earth, us humans, and myriad other critters. The backlash against processed food and unsustainable agricultural practices is needed every bit as much in second and third world countries, where a lack of nutritional content can mean not just obesity, but life or death.
The answer is to take back control of our food. Buy with intelligence. Buy locally when you can. Always buy quality. Make and grow everything you can at home. Not only is this absolutely much better for you, it tastes, smells, looks and feels better. Add nutrients, flavor, and health benefits, instead of taking those things away. Here’s how.
Dressings are emulsions, an acid suspended in an oil with some herbs and spices. That utter simplicity is the beauty of a good dressing. As with all things good to eat, the fresher and higher the quality of your ingredients, the better the final product. Start with nothing more than great oil and vinegar, and you’ll have amazing dressing, guaranteed. Change the oils and vinegars, and you’ve got variety right there.
First off, the good oils. We’re looking for polyunsaturated and monounsaturated varieties, and there are a good few out there. Canola, sunflower, safflower, and walnut oils are all polyunsaturated. Olive and peanut, (yes, peanut, my fave frying oil), are monounsaturated. Olive oil all by itself offers a wide variety of flavor profiles; you can and should spend years just exploring those. Use the canola, safflower, or sunflower for dressings when you want other flavors to speak louder than the oil. Opt for good extra virgin olive oil when that flavor note will contribute to the finished dressing. Naturally, you don’t want to use a highly flavored, pricy finishing oil in a complex dressing recipe.
Poly and Mono Unsaturated Oils
Next, comes vinegar, and there are once again a myriad of varieties and infused options to try. And of course you can and should make your own, too. Among the common varieties you’ll find, distilled white vinegar has a sharp flavor profile that goes nicely with delicate herbs and spices. Cider vinegar has a sweet tang that compliments fruit and vegetables with a sweet note of their own. Red Wine vinegar is a bit heartier and blends well with vegetables. Malt vinegar is one of my faves, with a great balance of tang and sweet. Rice vinegar is a lighter, more delicate taste if you prefer things a bit less zippy. Balsamic vinegar is a world unto itself, enough for a future post, in fact; its richness and depth prompts me to say that you really don’t want to mix it with much more than good oil and a little salt and pepper. For daily use, a moderately priced balsamic will do just fine.
Vinegar varieties run wild, and so should you!
By the way, there are plenty of other acids to use for house made dressings. Citrus is a great alternative, so try lemon, Meyer lemon, lime, orange, blood orange, as well as pink and white grapefruit. Other tangy fruits with a dominant acidic note will work as well. Mango is one of my favorites, but tomato, tomatillo, kiwi, strawberry and blackberry are also stellar. Squeeze and strain citrus, or purée and strain the others to use them as a dressing base with your favorite oil. With flavorful options like these, you may find yourself not wanting to add much of anything else.
Acidic fruits make great dressings
Likewise, you can use booze or tangy dairy in place of vinegar. The inherent smoky wood and sugar notes of bourbon, or the sweet tang of rum make fabulous dressings. You can use booze straight away, or do a quick flambé to flash off the alcohol and concentrate the flavors. And frankly, there’s nothing like a creamy version made with fresh, local yoghurt, or genuine homemade buttermilk ranch. Contrary to popular belief and its name, buttermilk has less fat and is lower in calories than whole milk. The natural tang comes from lactic acid produced during fermentation. The curdling process also makes buttermilk thicker than milk, which is perfect for dressing.
Booze in dressing? Oh my, yes! Buttermilk & Yoghurt make fabulous creamy dressings.
Adding fresh herbs and spices yields yet more variety, as well as providing a little shot of nutrients and antioxidants with virtually no calories. Try what you like, and then branch out; sage, rosemary, marjoram, parsley, thyme, cilantro, and so on. Here again, think of the varieties of just one of these you can grow, like thyme or basil; each of those will give a totally unique finished dressing.
Don’t miss out on fresh veggies in your dressing either. Garlic, shallot, sweet onion, green onion, cilantro, parsley, lemongrass, peppers, chiles, even puréed root vegetables will make spectacular dressing. Like beets? Try my vinaigrette made with ’em.
Finally, dressings are a perfect showcase for all those varietal and smoked salts and peppers I’ve been yammering at you about. In a small batch of fresh dressing, just changing these will be a whole new ball game as well.
Finishing salts and peppers at custom zing to house made dressings.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started. With all of these versions, it’s best to blend with a fork or a whisk and then let the finished product sit for 30 minutes or longer to allow flavors to develop and marry. These are scaled for two to four folks to enjoy fresh, which for my mind is the way dressing aughta be done; if the volumes seem small, that’s because they are. Dressing should compliment the flavors of a salad, not drown ’em.
Fresh salad and dressing; hungry yet?
Dijon Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Pinch of Sea Salt
Variant: Add 1/2 teaspoon of good local honey or agave nectar.
Citrus Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice and zest of 1-2 fresh navel Oranges
Juice and zest of 1 fresh small Lime
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variant: sub Meyer Lemon for oranges, add 1 teaspoon local honey or agave nectar.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Creamy Vinaigrette
1/2 Cup plain Greek Yoghurt
3-4 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil
Juice and zest of 1 small Lemon
1/2 teaspoon dried Dill
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variant: Add 1 teaspoon Poppy Seed
Mediterranean Vinaigrette
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Tomato Purée
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed Lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon granulated Garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried Basil
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variants: Add chopped capers, or sun dried tomatoes.
Smoky Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Malt Vinegar
1 Tablespoon minced Sweet Onion
1 teaspoon local Honey
1/2 teaspoon Sweet Smoked Paprika
Pinch Alderwood Smoked Salt
A few twists of Smoked Pepper
Garlic Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed Lemon juice
2-3 cloves freshly pressed Garlic
1/2 teaspoon BasPinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variant: Add 1 Tablespoon Tomato purée.
Veggie Vinaigrette (For marinating or sautéing veggies)
Juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small Lemons
1/4 Cup canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Malt Vinegar
1 Tablespoon minced Sweet Onion
1 clove minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon Sweet Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
A few twists fresh ground Pepper
Blend all and refrigerate for at least an hour prior to marinating or sautéing. Really nice over hot vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, or green beans.
Raspberry Vinaigrette
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons puréed fresh Raspberries
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed Orange Juice
1/2 teaspoon Agave Nectar
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variants: Sub blackberries for raspberries, lime juice for lemon. Sub blueberries and orange juice.
Beet Vinaigrette
1/2 Cup Beet Purée
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon creamed Horseradish
1-2 drops Vanilla extract
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variants: try any of your favorite roots veggies in place of the beets.
Add 2 Tablespoons of buttermilk for a creamy dressing.
Honey Mustard
1/2 Cup plain Greek Yoghurt
3-4 Tablespoons Safflower Oil
1-2 teaspoons dried Mustard
1 Tablespoon local Honey
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Buttermilk Ranch
1/2 Cup fresh Buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Crema (creme fraîche or sour cream is OK too)
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced Celery Leaf
1 clove freshly pressed Garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Malt Vinegar
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Shot or two Tabasco Sauce
Whisk all like you were making whipped cream. Refrigerate in glass with an airtight lid for at least an hour and up to overnight before serving; like great potato salad, it’s actually better the next day.
Bourbon Vinaigrette
4 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil
1 tablespoon Bourbon
1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon real Maple Syrup
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Variant: Add 1/4 cup plain Greek Yoghurt for a creamy alternative.
Buttermilk Rum Dressing
4 Tablespoons Safflower Oil
1 Tablespoon Dark Rum
1 Tablespoon Malt Vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed Lime juice
4-5 sprigs minced Cilantro
1 clove fresh pressed Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Habanero Chile Sauce
Pinch of Sea Salt
A few twists of fresh ground Pepper
Infused vinegars can be made safely and easily at home, and as with most things house made, they’re far superior to the commercial alternatives.
Chile infused malt vinegar
Vinegar has truly come into its own these days. Not so long ago, you might find white, cider and maybe some red in most stores; Now you can find a truly amazing assortment of varietal and infused vinegars. Here again though, its caveat emptor. Many commercial vinegars, like most other processed foods, contain stuff you don’t want or need to put in your body. Then there’s the price; typically I see $4 to $8 for 12 ounces or so of a flavored vinegar.
Here’s my guarantee; buying what you need to make these will cost a tiny fraction of that kinda dough. Make them yourself at home. Plain old white vinegar is great for making your own infused varieties, though you can and should try some others as well. Decent jugs of white, red, cider, and even wine can be bought quite inexpensively and mixed at home. Keep in mind that wine and rice vinegars contain protein that provides an excellent medium for bacterial growth, so proper storage and FIFO practices are critical when using them for home infusion.
With the recent interest in home fermenting, you may even decide to make your own vinegar at home, (But that’s a later post).
Fact is, Infused vinegars can be made safely and easily at home, and as with most things house made, they’re far superior to the commercial alternatives. There are, of course, a couple of very important caveats.
1. They are best stored in the refrigerator, and
2. Garlic, vegetable, and herbs in vinegar can still support the growth of C. botulinum bacteria.
For these reasons, vinegars should be made fresh in relatively small batches, refrigerated and used within a couple of months; no great burden there. Here’s the scoop to safely make your own at home.
Use only crack and Nick free glass jars with a good seal for infusing.
Wash your hands and other equipment well before starting any food preparation work. I like good quality, wide mouth canning jars for their ease of loading and unloading.
Sterilize your jars in a pan of water at a rolling boil for five minutes. Remove jars to a clean paper towel to dry. Fill your jars while they’re still warm. Caps and stoppers should be dropped into boiling waters, then immediately taken off the heat. Leave them in the hot water until you’re ready to use them.
Herbs and spices need to be blanched; this will help keep them safe and also makes them look downright lovely in your jars. Use only the best, freshest, cleanest leaves and flowers with no brown spots, wilt, or other lesions. Picking fresh herbs first thing in the morning is a best practice. Prepare a pan of water at a rolling boil, with an ice bath, (50% ice and water), along side. Plunge your herbs I to the boiling water for 30 seconds, then transfer I’m immediately to the ice bath for about 30 seconds. Remove from ice bath and place on clean paper towels for use. A good general ratio is 3 tablespoons of herbs to a pint of vinegar; start there and adjust as you see fit.
Fruit is wonderful in an infused vinegar; strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, citrus, pears, mangoes and kiwis are all great candidates. The peel, (no white pith) and meat of a citrus fruit, or 1 cup of other fruit per pint of vinegar is a good starting ratio.
Veggies like onion, shallot, garlic, ginger, tomato, chiles, make great infusions as well. Of course you can always follow the Rule of Three in this pursuit as well. Garlic-Lime-Dill, Lemon-Jalapeño-Cilantro, or Juniper-Pepper-Kiwi anyone?
Try threading fruits and veggies into a thin bamboo skewer for easy insertion and removal. Thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables with clean water and peel, if necessary, before use. Small fruits and vegetables may be halved or left whole; large ones will need to be sliced or cubed.
When choosing a vinegar for infusion, consider the flavor profile of the variety and what you want to infuse. Cider vinegar goes great with fruit. Distilled white works best with delicate herbs and spices. Red and white wine vinegars work well with garlic and tarragon. Malt or cider works very nicely with veggies.
When you’re ready to infuse, sterilize the jars or bottles you’ll use to store your vinegars in as you did the infusing jars above. I reuse hot sauce bottles for this and they do quite nicely, but new bottles are not pricy, and are a nice treat if you’re making this stuff for gifts.
Heat your vinegar to 190° F, then carefully pour over the herbs and cap tightly, (A canning funnel will come in really handy for this process.) Allow your vinegars to stand for three to four weeks in a cool, dark place for full flavor development.
Infused vinegars resting, building flavor
When they’re ready, strain the vinegar through damp cheesecloth over a colander, chinoise or double mesh strainer. As you would with house made stock, continue to filter until the vinegar runs clear. Discard whatever you used to infuse with. You can add a fresh sprig of herb, fruit, etc in the bottle if it’ll fit, but follow the ingredient prep directions above if you do. Seal tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
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UrbanMonique 