Cracking the Dressings: Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette
26 Apr
18 Variations on Vinaigrette, another chart in How to Cook Everything that’s just completely loaded with potential. All of them are variations on the classic template: oil, acid (vinegar, lemon juice, what have you), salt, pepper, hopefully some shallot and maybe a little bit of garlic.
Bittman swears by emulsifying it all in the food processor, as the cleanup time still makes up for the whisking-by-hand time, not to mention the stress on your wrist.
So for Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette, first you roast a pepper (in this case, a red one). I do this on the burner, turning it with tongs until it’s black all over. The one you see here is about halfway there.
Then stick it in a plastic bag and seal it so that the pepper steams as it cools. You can then peel it with your fingers under running cold water, slice it open, remove the stem and seeds, and you’re ready to make the dressing.
Olive oil (something like 1/3 cup), good wine vinegar (I used sherry vinegar, around 3 tbs.) and the pepper are all that Bittman suggests, along with salt and pepper, of course. I added to this a bit of shallot, because hey, why not?
Let ‘er rip.
And here’s what you get: a delicious salad dressing that tastes so much better than even the best storebought (which, for the record, is Newman’s Own). If only it kept for longer, I’d make it by the gallon. Oh, well. Can’t win ’em all.
