Outrageous Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing



Outrageous Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing

We eat a number of lovely, homemade salad dressings at our house (such as this one and this one, to name just a couple). But this is the salad dressing I make if I want all of the salad to be eaten.

I realize that pouring a mixture of mayonnaise, sour cream, and other goodies over a lovely green salad in some ways defeats the purpose. But hey, there are still vitamins under all that goodness, and if it gets them to eat more veggies, I'm up for it (did I mention that my children look like they have recently moved here from a prison camp? Fat really isn't an issue for them, although I realize that someday it will be, and that we need to keep their hearts healthy, etc.) But still. This stuff is really, really good.

The recipe makes quite a lot--maybe 3-4 cups. But it's also the only salad dressing that I don't think I've ever washed down the disposal because it didn't get used.

Outrageous Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing

2 tablespoons soy sauce (the original recipe called for tamari. I almost always have soy sauce; I almost never have tamari).

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons granulated garlic (the original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but I don't want my kids to have to sit by themselves at school lunch)

Cracked black pepper to taste

Whisk together the soy sauce vinegar and honey until the honey has dissolved. Then whisk in the garlic, sour cream, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard, garlic powder and black pepper until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours before using. Use within a few days.

 

Chicken and 40 Cloves of Garlic

And now just to prove that we do sometimes still use whole garlic cloves, here's one of the most garlic-rich recipes I know. That may not look like 40 cloves of garlic, but it's actually about 47 or 48 cloves. I doubled this recipe, but refrained from doubling the number of garlic cloves because I wanted to be sure that the neighbor kids would still play with my children. Did you know that consuming large amounts of garlic will cause it to seep through your pores in odor form? Try getting on a crowded public bus in a country where garlic is included in every meal and you'll see what I mean.

I'm not sure of the origins of this recipe, but I think it's French. I've seen many different versions. I'm almost certain I've seen one that calls for a whole chicken cooked in a crock pot (with, of course, the 40-odd cloves). It's a lovely, simple meal. Bob and I have searched for a great garlic chicken recipe since I took him to Mr. B's restaurant in New Orleans six or so years ago. At the time, he couldn't believe that I was ordering chicken at a world-class restaurant (I had been there before on business trips). But after he tasted it, he was won over and has been a raving garlic chicken fan ever since. I can't say this even comes close to Mr. B's, but it has a wonderful flavor and is relatively easy to whip up. Here's what the dish looks like after it's finished:

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of any fat
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
40 cloves of garlic, separated and peeled
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (I didn't have any parsley on hand, so I omitted it. It is, after all, a garnish).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place trimmed and halved chicken breasts in a large zip loc bag. Pound the meat flat with a mallet until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Season with sea salt, black pepper and thyme to taste (the fresh thyme in our garden is going crazy, so I substituted it for the dry. It was lovely).

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. In batches, saute the chicken smooth side down first until nicely browned, about 4 minutes. Flip the breasts and cook for 45 seconds, then remove to a baking dish. Once all the chicken has been cooked, add the garlic to the skillet. Lower the heat and saute for 3-4 minutes, turning often. Add the chicken stock, making sure to scrape all the brown goodies off the bottom of the pan. Season with salt, pepper and thyme if needed. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Once the chicken has baked, carefully remove the meat and garlic cloves to a platter and cover with an aluminum foil tent to keep it warm. Place the sauce in the large skillet used to cook the meat. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and milk with a little bit of the sauce. Once it's thoroughly mixed, slowly whisk the flour mixture back into the rest of the sauce. Add the butter to the sauce, increase the heat and boil for three minutes or until it's nice and thick. Taste and re-season if needed. Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Minced Garlic

From time to time, we have been garlic snobs. One year, with the help of a friend, we even planted and grew our own garlic. It was delicious. But it took work. We still use fresh garlic sometimes, such as when I make and bottle pizza sauce every summer. But we have embraced so many garlic-intensive dishes that we've seen the light: we now stock minced garlic from (where else?) Costco.

We aren't at all attached to this brand, and I know that you can buy smaller containers at your average grocery store. Truth be told, we discarded a number of containers of this garlic before they were completely consumed because we felt that they had passed their prime. But in recent months we have been polishing it off without a problem.

This works really well for garlic-intensive recipes as you might find in Vietnamese food (see here and here). We also use it for recipes requiring a much smaller amount. We love being able to use garlic to our hearts' delight without all that peeling and crushing.