Making a home made vinaigrette

Making your own dressing is a great skill to have. You can make your own vinaigrette out of every day items in your pantry. More importantly, it is much more economical that constantly buying bottled dressings.

When making a vinaigrette, you will always mix 3 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar. However, if you are substituting a lesser amount of lemon juice for the vinegar, you will have to adjust your level of olive oil at the
same ratio. Since you are going to be tasting the olive oil directly, you will want to make sure you use the best available.

Making vinaigrette is a two handed job – one to whisk and one to add the oil. During the process, you need to make sure that the bowl stays stationary. You can either used a towel (moisten it and wrap it around perimeter of bowl) or if you have one, a rubber bottomed bowl. You will need something that has traction on the counter.

The first thing you are going to do is add a bit of salt to the vinegar and let it dissolve. You can add it later but vinegar allows the salt to dissolve more readily that it will once you have added the oil. Put in a dollop of Dijon, this will serve as your emulsifier for the oil and vinegar. Whisk until mustard is combined then you will gradually fold in the olive oil, pouring it in a slow steady stream as you constantly whisk. Continue the process until the dressing has emulsified completely. Taste, if you wish you may add additional salt and pepper at this time to get the proper flavor.

This is only a basic vinaigrette, you can play with it by using different infused oils or flavored vinegars (i.e. champagne, cider). You can also add things like citrus, herbs, garlic and shallots. This dressing can be used for pasta salad, drizzled over veggies, tossed with your greens or as a marinade for meats and fish.

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Oil and vinegar is an integral part of Italian food. Italian cuisine is an example of the Mediterranean diet, which is appealing for its healthy nature derived from olive oil, grains, vegetables, herbs, fish, cheese, fruit and wine. Each are established elements esteemed as ideal for a modern diet. It makes sense for your health to include quality olive oil and vinegar in your kitchen’s pantry and on your table.

Oil and vinegar keep well as pantry staples and help set Tuscan cooking apart from that of any other country as easy to use ingredients especially with the oft spontaneity of preparation. Quality oil and vinegar can transform an Italian recipe from routine to a creative culinary experience.

Olive oil and vinegar are often viewed exclusively as ingredients of salad dressings. Chefs rely on the variations and nuances of both vinegars and olive oils to add certain tastes and characteristics to numerous cuisines. Salad dressings are the common results of mixing oil and vinegar together, but an oil and vinegar mixture can also add distinction to seafood, vegetables, pastas, meats, and grains. Oil and vinegar marinades and emulsified sauces offer additional flavor to food preparations. A good Balsamic vinaigrette recipe is exquisite if prepared properly.

Oil and vinegar are now gourmet essentials. They are no longer just simple ingredients that we often regarded as mundane. Although olive oil and vinegar have been around for thousands of years, recent nutritional research has documented their true health value and benefits. The extremely low level of coronary disease in the Mediterranean region has been found to be indicative of the diet of the cultures present there. Olive oil is one of the key contributors to the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Personal preference and use of oil and vinegar can be objective, but the quality of both is directly reflective of the producer’s standards of excellence. Freshness, production processing, storage and bottling are what distinguish one variety from another.

With the popularity of imported premium olive oils and vinegars; oil and vinegar cruets are a necessary addition to the gourmet kitchen. Along with gourmet olive oil and balsamic vinegar; oil drizzlers, dipping dishes, and cruets make ideal gifts that tastefully compliments every culinary décor. When shopping for Christmas, housewarming, birthday, or anniversary gifts for the chef, browse a selection of elegant kitchen gourmet glassware. Each cruet is beautifully and individually hand blown. They are elegant, yet durable and crafted for everyday cooking use.
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