Sunday, October 31, 2010

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Oh, sadly neglected food blog! It's been a pretty crazy couple of months, and I've been turning to my favorites instead of looking for new recipes. But I made this last night for dinner and it is SO GOOD I had to share it immediately!

I LOVE ranch dressing, but the pre-made bottles have just not been doing it for me. My husband loves salad and I make it with almost every meal on the weekends, but I barely eat any of it.

Except for this weekend. My parents were out, and I made my beloved beef bourguignon, one of my favorite all-time recipes. I barely touched the stew, though, because I was too busy gorging myself on my second helping of salad. My goodness is this DIVINE! It's also pretty simple. I don't think I will ever buy a pre-made bottle of ranch again!

I used just one clove of garlic and it was perfect. Of the optional items, I used one teaspoon of dill, and then added white pepper to taste for a little kick. I would recommend using buttermilk instead of regular milk.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 clove (to 2 Cloves) Garlic
Salt To Taste
¼ cups Italian Flat-leaf Parsley
2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives
1 cup (Real) Mayonnaise
½ cups Sour Cream
Buttermilk (as Needed To Desired Consistency)
White Vinegar (optional, To Taste)
Worcestershire Sauce (optional, To Taste)
Fresh Dill (optional, To Taste)
Cayenne Pepper (optional, To Taste)
Paprika (optional, To Taste)
Fresh Oregano (optional, To Taste)
Tabasco (optional, To Taste)

1. Mince the garlic with a knife and then sprinkle about an 1/8 to ¼ teaspoons of salt on it and mash it into a paste with a fork. Chop the parsley, chives and any of the optional herbs very finely and add to the garlic.

2. In a bowl combine all ingredients, adding other optional ingredients as you wish, tasting frequently and adjusting seasonings as needed. Chill for a couple of hours before serving, thin with milk or buttermilk if desired.