Dill and Chive Blue Cheese Dressing

There's this newish place in Chicago called Bavettes.  Charlie and I have been there a million times to eat their wedge salad.  In fact, we've crawled out of bed at 10:30pm on a Saturday to go get one because we couldn't stop thinking about it. The dressing makes it.  It's SUPER herbaceous, creamy and sinful.  To dies fors. 

I made a grilled wedge salad this weekend (salad to be posted on Wednesday) as an homage to one of my favorite dishes in the city.  The most important part to any salad is the dressing (duh) so we'll start with that. 

There are several fresh herbs you can use for this, but my favorites are chives and dill. Chop them up as fine as you want - I give them a rough chop because I think the herbs look super pretty.

If this looks like a lot...it's because it is.  I doubled the recipe because Charlie puts this on everything.  Really.

After you add your sour cream and mayo and other good stuff, you could stop here and have a delicious dip...

Or, you can add milk to thin it out and have an amazing dressing...



Either way, it's absolutely divine.  Here's the recipe (doubled):

2 Small Containers (4 oz each) of Blue Cheese Crumbles 
1 Pkg of Fresh Dill (3.75 oz), large stems removed, finely chopped
1 Pkg of Fresh Chives (3.75 oz), finely chopped 
2 Shallots, Minced 
1 Cup Sour Cream 
1 Cup Mayonnaise (Hellman's please) 
2-3 Tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar 
1/4 Cup of Milk 
1/2 Tsp of Garlic Powder 
1/2 Tsp of Kosher or Sea Salt 

Mix everything together in a bowl.  If it's too thick, add additional milk slowly.  Note: It will thicken as it cools in the fridge.  Also, taste for seasoning.  If it needs additional acid, add a little vinegar, 1 tbs at a time.

Stay tuned for the salad on Wednesday...it's ridiculous!

Stay hungry!

Homemade Dill Ranch Dressing

Last week I discovered a combination of flavors I couldn't get out of my head.  Sugar snap peas dipped in the dill ranch dressing from the Whole Foods salad bar.  If you have never munched on sugar snap peas, I would give it a whirl.  They are so crunchy and have just a hint of sweetness.  YUM. 

Last week I went to Whole Foods JUST to get a couple (ok 4) containers of the dressing so I could dip my said peas into something delicious.  The guy at the check out counter looked confused.  You forgot your salad, he said.  Nope, nope I didn't.  Luckily a couple of Mary Kay sales women on the hunt for recruits interrupted us right before it got awkward.  Oh my! Don't you look pretty and put together.  Nice try.  I look like death warmed over.  Move along ladies.

Back on topic.  Have you ever tried this dressing?  Sweet Moses is it good.  I consider the salad bar at Whole Foods sacred in some ways and the epicenter of the sacredness comes from the dill ranch dressing.  In fact, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would volunteer the hours of my day to stand by the Whole Foods salad bar meticulously monitoring the dill ranch dressing squirt container.  NO I'm not crazy (yes I am).  YES.  It's that important.

I don't typically like to embarrass myself too frequently in the same place, in front of the same people, so I decided to venture out and make this on my own.  Ta DAAAAAAAAAAA it came out great.

Here are our cast of creamy characters:

Sour Cream

Mayonaise

Dill

Chives

Sour Cream

Milk

White Vinegar

Garlic

Kosher or Sea Salt

This is honest to goodness the first time I have ever purchased dill.  I actually thought I didn't like dill until last week, when I realized I was drinking dill dressing through a straw.  Dill has a super unique flavor - it's very bright and gardeny.

Start with equal parts of mayonnaise (REAL PLEASE) and sour cream.  If you wanted to cut back on the fat (boo) I would replace half of the mayonnaise and half of the sour cream with Greek yogurt.  The thought breaks my heart, but do what you will and look better in a bikini than me.

I have made similar dressings before and have only chopped the garlic.  Big mistake.  If you are ever planning on eating raw garlic, work it into a fine paste.  Either on a micro plane (above), or you can paste it by finely chopping the garlic, sprinkling some coarse salt on top (like kosher or sea salt) and mashing it with a fork or the side edge of your knife.   If you are doing the salt method just remember to not season the dressing again later without trying it first.

This is the texture of the garlic you want.  I did one small clove and it worked very nicely.

Remove the little baby dill leaves off the stem by just running the leaves through your thumb nail.  They should come off pretty easily.  Almost as if you are curling a ribbon.

Give the baby dill a rough chop.

Chives.  So mild, yet so delicious.  I usually just buy green onions, which would work fine in this recipe too.  Just make sure you chop the green stems fine.  I like how little these are though and think they look nice in the dressing.

Give the chives a rough chop as well.

Now, throw your garlic, chives, and dill in the bowl.

And give it a stir.  It'll be really thick at this point.

Add a big pinch of sea salt.

Add your milk.  You can use buttermilk too. And, yes.  That glass says "wine" on the side.  Charlie's Aunt Gail got these cute little wine glasses to go with our "breakfast in bed" wedding gift set.  I like her style, but how does she know I drink in the mornings...

Give it a stir and then add your vinegar.  If you have red wine vinegar, that would work too.  Even apple cider vinegar would work well.  Or lemon juice.  Doesn't really matter - you just want something acidic to brighten the creaminess.

Stir and give it a taste.  What does it need? 

In my case, it needed more dill.  I wanted the dill to lead the flavor profile of this dressing so I basically doubled what I originally put in.

I had to remind myself several times that this was not cream of dill soup.  This was dressing.  The major component being that of mayonnaise.  Put the funnel down, Jaisa.

The best way to check the seasoning of a dressing is to try it with what you're planning on eating it with.  So, a piece of lettuce maybe, or in my case a sugar snap pea.  And yes, I realize that 95% of the sugar snap pea is covered.  I cropped my thumb out because there was dressing on that too.

So I just realized I took a pic of me double dipping.  I can double dip all the live long day because this is all MINE.  Give it a try and let us know what you think.  Stay hungry!

Homemade Dill Ranch Dressing Recipe

3/4 Cup of Sour Cream

3/4 Cup of Hellmann's Mayonnaise

1 Small Garlic Clove, pasted

4 Tbs Baby Dill, chopped

2 Tbs Chives, chopped

1/4 Cup Whole Milk

2 Tbs of White Vinegar

Heavy Pinch of Kosher or Sea Salt

Mix all ingredients together and taste for seasoning.  Let dressing set for a little for an hour or so for best results.  Enjoy!

Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

I love salad. Not because I'm healthy, but because it's a vehicle for delicious things like bacon and homemade dressing. Dressing is so important. I have never found a store bought one that rivals the kind I make at home. It makes or breaks a salad so take the time and do it right - your friends and family will thank you.

Start with a container of blue cheese crumbles (4 oz). You can also use gorgonzola if it's on sale. Add some sour cream and mayonaise. I just eyeball it so they are equal size scoops. Do about a 1/3 Cup of each. For the love of GOD do not use Miracle Whip. Use Hellman's REAL mayonaise.

Add some buttermilk. Start with about an 1/8 of a cup and then add a little at a time until you have the right consistency. Buttermilk gives it that tang. You can definitely use regular milk, in fact I've made it with milk before and it came out great. It's really up to you.

Give it a stir.

Make sure the consistency is right. If it's too liquidy add some more mayo or sour cream. Play around. As you can see, this is far from an exact science.

Now, add some white vinegar, garlic powder, salt, and LOTS of fresh ground pepper. I've also added red wine vinegar because I was out of white and that worked great too. In fact, I think I might prefer it.

Give it a taste. Do I have to? Poor me.

I like to really taste the pepper. So, I added more.  Give it a stir and resist the temptation to rub this on your face. Oh only I want to do that? Weird.

Yum! Chunky, creamy, decadent buttermilk blue cheese dressing. So easy, so homey.

Holla back and stay hungry!