Thursday, January 31, 2013

My Mother's French Vinaigrette

We grew up with Vinaigrette on our salad, there was never, ever a store bought bottle of salad dressing in our refrigeration   Back in those days the vinaigrette was made at each meal.  It was placed at the bottom of the bowl, and the salad was added on top...The rule was to toss the salad 100 times ...why, I am not sure...maybe it was a job just to keep us busy.

The simple rule of making a true French Vinaigrette is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oils ( measured out with the same wooden spoon)  Always start with the vinegar add the salt, then the shallots, pepper,Dijon mustard and then the oil.  If you were serving lets say cold asparagus you could add some chopped parsley to the vinaigrette.  Softer leave lettuce such as Boston lettuce, a table spoon of cream was added to the dressing... 

At one point my mother traveled back home to France to visit and she learned that they actually make a batch of vinaigrette at one time...So we followed suite... Below is the secret of a French Vinaigrette (single serving).

A bowl

Add one tablespoon of red wine vinegar to the salt

add one small shallot, pepper 

Add 3 tablespoons of oil

add on teaspoon of Dijon mustard and whisk

And now a days we make it in batches, and it is always stored in Grey Poupon  Jar


Growing up with French Parents we learned to appreciate good food....and were exposed to a variety ...and were expected to try everything and finish what was on your plate..


I hope you enjoyed....you can follow me on Harmonizing Home  where I have blogs on transforming your home with design and style.

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