Olive update!

Since it's after the New Year it was time to check on my olives that were brining! I changed the brine and added spices to one of the jars leaving the other alone so I could compare the two. To one of the jars I added a few dried arbol chiles, garlic, and fresh rosemary. I didn't do this in the beginning because  flavors like these would be too pronounced in the finished product given the 6-8 month cure. I could easily see how doing a 10 lb batch of these could be very economical, easy, and make great gifts (I say this, of course, before I even try them)!

Homemade Caesar

Whisk, whisk, whisk!

Well, after finals, Peru, and lab presentations I found time to do something! I've been wanting to try out a caesar dressing for awhile and I had most of the ingredients on hand so here it is. This version, which is a mix of a couple of recipes, includes egg yolk, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy, a dash of worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and parmigiano reggiano. Whisk the yolk and the oil together slowly and then combine the rest of the ingredients to mix. Done, simple, and delicious! Unfortunately, this dressing is one of those things that once you make it and realize what exactly is in it you can't eat it very often anymore. Bah.

Mise en place

I made this two nights in a row and I tweaked it the second time to better suit my tastes. I started with one egg yolk, 1/4 cup oil (I did olive), 2 anchovy fillets minced, ~2 garlic cloves minced, probably 3 tablespoons cup lemon juice, a dash of worcestershire and dijon, salt, pepper, and a hefty amount of parmigiano reggiano. This was pretty good, but I thought it could be more...pure? The second night I started out the same with the egg and oil and then did 3 fillets, 1 garlic clove, 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice, no worcestershire, 1/2 teaspoon dijon, salt, pepper, and a small grating of parmigiano reggiano. I thought this version was a lot more clean and more simple tasting, which I liked more!