MMMmmm....your dressings do sound good.
You are so right about the difference between store bought and homemade. When you can make the dressing to your taste, they don't sit around for long. I make a new batch at least once a week. I started with mayonaise after I got a Bamix hand blender for my birthday. Hand blenders are those long electric blenders that you stick in a large glass to make milkshakes and smoothies with. Making mayonaise in a standard osterizer type blender can be challenging. You have to dribble the oil into the blender in a long slow stream for the recipe to work. Pour in the oil too fast and you end up with a disaster. Then you have to clean the blender. Much better to use a hand blender. You can make the mayonaise right in a mayonaise jar. Cleaning the blender is as simple as rinsing it off under the tap. Best of all you just cover the egg , seasonings and vinegar with the oil and then insert the handblender into the jar. You just hold the blender on the bottom of the jar while blending for 15-30 seconds and magically with no effort mayonaise forms before your eyes.
Mayonaise
1 egg at room temperature (cold eggs will ruin the recipe)
2-3 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1-1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
This makes a mayonaise similar to Hellmans
I like Miracle Whip better so I just add 2 tsp of sugar to the above recipe before it is blended. Thats all there is to it. I used to leave storebought mayonaise to sit in the fridge for months but this stuff is so good it does not last much longer than a week. It beats Kraft Miracle Whip by a mile.
Next there is ranch dressing and its many variations
Ranch dressing is basically just mayonaise with buttermilk, sour cream or yohgurt added along with some seasonings.
To one batch of mayonaise add 1/4 cup of buttermilk, sour cream or yohgurt.
Yohgurt makes a very nice dressing Plain yohgurt no vanilla or fruit please!
Add some garlic, dill, basil, parsley, etc for your own customized ranch dressing that will knock your socks off.
