Think On It

Gia Gina, a white dressing

December 29th, 2006

This is not my recipe, but one I garnered from the website for Saco food products.  They make dried buttermilk, which you can use, in this benighted buttermilk free country.  Unfortunately, they don’t sell it in this country, so you know the drill.  Who is coming next?  And will they have the patience to seek it out for you in the supermarkets before they come?  It isn’t easy.  I looked several times at really good supermarkets and didn’t find it.  EG may come along and tell us where she finally tracked it down.

I promised Gia Gina some time back to get her a recipe for Ranch Dressing or any other white dressing.  Here is a darned good substitute for Ranch.

Ranch Dressing appeared on the US scene a couple of decades ago and it has been hugely successful ever since.  Even with full fat mayonnaise, it has many less calories than oil and vinegar dressings, which are normally from ¾ to 2/3 oil.  Add to that the bit of calcium and that buttermilk is useful in helping to control cholesterol and this is a good alteration to the US diet.  Mind you, this buttermilk does not have live culture bacteria in it, so expats can forget that bit.

Buttermilk  Dressing

1/2 cup (reduced calorie/low-cholesterol is OK, if you can find or stand it) mayonnaise
2/3 cup water
3 Tbsp. SACO Buttermilk Blend
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped
In a small jar combine all of the dressing ingredients, shake until well-mixed. Refrigerate until ready to use, shake again before pouring. Can be made a day in advance, if necessary.
Makes 1 1/4 cups.

I didn’t make it in a jar.  I should have.  I thought I could combine chopping the herbs with mixing by using my stick blender.  You can, but only if you have a very, very deep and narrow container, because I will be finding and washing up dressing for months.

It tastes good, but isn’t thick because it has neither thick, cultured buttermilk nor guar gums and other thickeners found in commercial dressings.  I’ll just live with that.

What does happen to all the buttermilk in Italy?  There’s lots of butter, just no buttermilk left from making it.  And before you ask, yogurt doesn’t make an adequate flavor substitute.  It makes good dressings, but not this one.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized, Food, Italy