Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Simple Sherry Vinaigrette – Shake it baby!

Today’s post is really two separate demos. One is to show you a fantastic, all-purpose salad dressing using sherry vinegar. The second is a technique that makes emulsifying a dressing a fast and easy process. The reason I like sherry vinegar so much is that combines the complex, tartness of really good wine vinegar, with the rich, sweetness of balsamic vinegar. The vinaigrette shown today literally goes great with everything; whether it’s under a delicate filet of poached fish, over a grilled steak, or with an avocado salad, as you see pictured here (avocado salad sold separately).

The squeeze bottle method I show is such an easy way to emulsify a dressing and eliminates the need for the old “stand there and slowly drizzle in the oil in a fine stream” method. Lots of professional cooks will of course use a blender, which works great, but for the home cook making smaller amounts, I think my squeeze bottle is the way to go. By the way, as you’ll hear me attempt to explain during the video recipe clip, the small amount of mustard is a key ingredient, and if you leave it out, the oil and vinegar will not stay bound together. Needless to say, this is my base recipe and can be varied in countless ways by adding herbs, garlic, shallots, etc. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1/3 cup sherry vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the same "hot waitress" squeeze bottle! good tricks, thanks

Unknown said...

GMO refers to genetically modified organism hmm...

Anonymous said...

"Even Emeril knows emulsify"

Classic. It is that sense of humor that keeps me watching.

Chef John was being sarcastic there helianthus I'm pretty sure....

Chef John said...

thanks, and btw I actually didnt know GMO...so thanks to hel also.

jojo said...

can i substitute sherry vinegar with something else?? or should i just go out and invest in one?

Chef John said...

you MUST own a Sherry vinegar if you want to be friends with me.

jojo said...

hehe gotcha!
OMG I tried the rack of lamb recipe...it was a HIT!!! thanks so much ur the best

cookinmom said...

question...can I cut evoo with canola oil so that there is not such a strong evoo flavor. No light evoo in the house.

Chef John said...

Of course! Enjoy!

cookinmom said...

I did...Thanks. Added some garlic, herbs and more sherry. Yes, I enjoyed!!! And so did others!

JBN said...

For those of us who do not have a local grocery store that carries sherry vinegar, can you either recommend a couple of decent brands available online or provide a recipe on how to make a decent sherry vinegar? Thanks!