I’ll always remember one of the early moments in my career, when I thought I just might be successful as a chef. Barely in my 20s, I was working in the kitchen of Raymond Thuilier at the Michelin three-star L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence. One day, the great chef came over, dipped a spoon into a pan containing a sauce I had just made, tasted it, and said something like, “This is good. Maybe just a little more salt.”
I knew I had earned his confidence, because sauces are a cornerstone of good cooking. A properly made sauce, whether savory or sweet, can elevate well-prepared ingredients from ordinary to extra-ordinary. And once you know the fundamentals of making a particular sauce, you can begin varying it with different kinds of ingredients and seasonings to make all kinds of delicious things.
That holds true, too, for how great dressings can transform salads. After all, what we call “vinaigrette” in English comes from the French term sauce vinaigrette, literally a “little vinegar sauce.” A salad’s dressing really is its sauce, moistening and flavoring it while harmonizing all the other ingredients.
So I sometimes wonder why so many people rely on bottled salad dressings that lack a home cook’s personal touch, especially considering how easy it is to make dressings yourself. And in summer, when salads become even more prominent menu items thanks to the availability of fresh vegetables and fruits, along with our desire to eat more refreshing, lighter foods, having the ability to make great salad dressings becomes more important than ever.
Consider the four vinaigrette recipes I share here as a primer in the art of dressing salads. All feature some variation on the classic formula of combining an acidic ingredient, such as vinegar or citrus juice, with seasonings, then stirring in an oil or fat to form a creamy emulsion.
Depending on the specific ingredients, you can get all sorts of great results for different salads.
— Balsamic Vinaigrette, our standby at Spago, is an all-purpose dressing for any mixed green salad.
— Caesar Vinaigrette, a version of the dressing for classic Caesar Salad, goes well with robust leaves like Romaine, coating them with its rich, garlicky, creamy consistency.
— The Citrus Vinaigrette, tangy with reduced orange juice and a little balsamic, suits tender, mild greens like butter lettuce.
— Bacon Vinaigrette, a popular warm dressing used sparingly, slightly wilts the leaves of salads to which it is added, such as spinach or curly endive, while complementing their slight bitterness or astringency with the smoky richness of a little bacon fat.
Add these four recipes to your repertoire and your summer salad days will be all the more delightful.
BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
Makes 1 cup.
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, tarragon, chives, or parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnut oil
In mixing bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, sherry-wine vinegar, mustard, shallot, herbs, salt and pepper. Whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in olive oil and walnut oil. Continue whisking until emulsified. Store in covered container in refrigerator. Use within 1 week. Whisk again before using.
CAESAR VINAIGRETTE
Makes 2 cups.
1 large pasteurized egg
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 anchovy fillets, mashed
2/3 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In mixing bowl, whisk together egg, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and anchovy. Whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in peanut oil and olive oil to form thick dressing. Stir in parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Store in covered container in refrigerator. Use within 1 week.
CITRUS VINAIGRETTE
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1 shallot, minced
1 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnut oil or hazelnut oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In medium saucepan over medium heat, bring orange juice to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer until juice has reduced to 1/3 cup. Cool to room temperature. In mixing bowl, stir together cooled juice, shallot, thyme and balsamic vinegar. Whisking continuously, drizzle in olive oil and nut oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Store in covered container in refrigerator. Use within a few days.
BACON VINAIGRETTE
Makes
1/3
cup.
3 slices uncured bacon, chopped
1/2 cup white-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
To cook bacon: Heat small saute pan over medium-high heat. Scatter in bacon. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until browned and crispy. Using slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan to paper towels. Pour off all but 2 table-spoons fat.
To make dressing: Add vinegar to saute pan. Over medium heat, use wood spoon to stir and scrape to deglaze pan deposits. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes or until vinegar reduces by half, watching carefully so it does not evaporate. Add sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat. Stir in olive oil.
To use dressing: Keep dressing warm until serving time, adding crispy bacon pieces as garnish.
