A Salad Is Better When Served with Vinaigrette and Croutons in a Wooden Bowl

Ken Haedrich reveals his recipe for his favorite vinaigrette, looks at the simple art of making croutons, and considers the pleasures of wooden salad bowls.

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by Ken HaedrichJune 1998from emergence # 15

One of my first professional cooking jobs was as an learner with an imposing woman chef , a gifted cook whose natural language was as sharp and pointed as her kitchen knife . There was only one manner to do anything : her agency . And there was only one excuse for missing a daylight of study : a death in the family . Your own .

In light of her weakly interpersonal skills , it was my mentor ’s fortune that she had unfailing good discernment in matter of the roof of the mouth . I clear remember her fulmination against insipid vinaigrettes , delivered more often that not as she adulterate up the jar in which she made hers with her secret ingredient : Dijon mustard . slews of it . Nearly 20 years subsequently , I still think she made the best salad dressing I ’ve ever had , as good as any in this era of fancy rock oil and vinegar .

So as we lead into this time of year of plentiful green salad , here is my favorite sauce vinaigrette , based on the principles of my former taskmaster . While we ’re at it , we ’ll look at the unsubdivided artistic production of make crouton , and consider the pleasure of wooden salad bowls .

get dressed for success : basic instructions . When it come to top timbre olive oil and vinaigrettes , I plead inverse snobbery . I have a cabinet full of expensive oils but find their flavors too assertive in vinaigrettes when used full strength . For my preference , they ’re much better in moderation , almost as a flavoring , the agency Allium sativum , herbs , and lemon yellow piquancy are used . We begin , then , with 4 tablespoon apparent supermarket olive oil , like Berio ; substitute 1 or 2 tablespoons of this with a flavorful extra - virginal oil color if you wish . Pour the oil into a jarful with a tight - meet turnkey - on lid .

Vinegars vary widely in flavor , character , and military strength . How much they vary will , in part , decide the precise amount you ’ll involve to make a balanced dressing . I can appreciate the subtle gist of a undecomposed bubbly , white wine , or flavored acetum in a vinaigrette , but I make no apologies for my casual choice : red wine vinegar . Add 1 tablespoon to the oil . That ’s slightly less than the usual 3 to 1 proportions of oil to acetum , but we ’ll compensate with a bit of lemon yellow succus and the edge of mustard . Of the latter , add 1 - 1⁄2 heaping teaspoons grainy Dijon to relish and inspissate the stuffing . Of the former , 1 teaspoon sweet lemon tree succus gives it a burnished citrus electric discharge . Include a bit of exquisitely grated zest .

In a well - balanced vinaigrette , sugar is seldom necessary . However , one or two big mite of simoleons , or a half teaspoon of maple syrup or honey , can take off the crisp border . kid often like sauce vinaigrette better this way .

contribute salt and freshly ground pepper ; give the jar a good handshake and correct the seasonings . As for garlic , a whispering is better than a shout . I press the first routine of juice from the Eugenia aromaticum into the jolt , then drop in the bruised clove ; it can be retrieved later . One to 2 tablespoons chopped smart herbs go in mightily before serving . This makes 1⁄3 cup apparel , enough for one family - size salad .

Vinaigrette

get enough for one menage - size salad

4 Tbs . olive oil1 Tbs . wine vinegar1 tsp . lemon juicePinch of lemon zest1 - 1⁄2 heaping tsp . Dijon mustardSalt and pepperto taste2 pinch bread ( opt.)Bruised clove of garlic1 - 2 Tbs . chopped herbs

Put all ingredient except the herbaceous plant in a jarful with a tight - fitting lid and excite to merge . Add the herbs correctly before serving .

Salad without crouton is like hot cocoa without whip cream . Not only should a salad be dressed for success , it should be accessorized in panache . And nothing in the salad realm has such long-suffering style as croutons , a triumph of texture . Their ingathering can be summed up in a single word : crunchy .

A slip for homemade croutons could be built on frugality grounds alone , but I think the edible grounds is more persuasive . Homemade crouton have more reference and better grain ; the box form are more tenuous and hard - handed with weird flavouring .

Your pick of bread , then , is the key issuance . The rule of thumb is , the inflexible the bread , the crunchier the croutons . delicate white breads , like Wonder Bread , are n’t firm enough to make crouton of any meat . The higher - end white breads , like Arnold or Pepperidge Farm , grant fine resultant . And chewy sourdough wampum make the crunchiest crouton of all , sometimes too crunchy if the crust is very chewy ; regard trimming it off . Whole cereal breads make less crank croutons than ashen breads do . head clear of angelic dough . more or less old , dry bread is hunky-dory , but do chequer for mold .

To make croutons , preheat the oven to 325˚F. Cut the gelt into 3⁄4 - in . cubes , aiming for about 4 cups . spot in a large bowling ball with 1⁄2 teaspoon each dry Origanum vulgare and dried St. Basil the Great . Drizzle 2 tablespoons Olea europaea oil colour over the dinero and toss . fan out the cubes on a large baking sheet ; salt and pepper lightly . Toast for 13 to 18 mo , until golden . Cool thoroughly on the sheet . Croutons can be salt away in a sealed formative bag for a couple of sidereal day .

crouton

4 cup 3⁄4 - in . bread cubes1⁄2 tsp . dry out oregano1⁄2 tsp . dried basil2 Tbs . European olive tree oilSalt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325˚F. Put the bread cubes , oregano , and Basil the Great in a prominent bowl and drizzle the olive oil over the sugar , toss out gently .

circulate the scratch cubes on a bombastic baking sheet ; Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and pepper light . Toast for 13 to 18 min . , until golden brown . Cool thoroughly on the sheet . Store in a sealed plastic base .

Photo/Illustration: Scott Phillips

Wooden salad bowls . I spoke recently with Michael Cohen , chairman ofSnow River Wood Productsin Brattleboro , Vermont . Among the items Cohen ’s company produces are wooden salad bowls made from northeastern hardwoods . I asked Cohen if he could explicate the grow ingathering of his stadium . He told me that for years the market was oversupply with inexpensive wooden bowl from Southeast Asia . Now , he explains , consumer have become discriminating woodenware buyers . They desire to buy American , and they ’re also looking for value , timber , and peach . “ A beautiful wooden salad bowl , ” Cohen says , “ can tote up warmth and balance to a menage kitchen . ”

To which I might contribute ( at the hazard of vocalize like a New Age pundit ) , the view of a fetching unripe salad mob luxuriously in a wooden bowl speaks to our souls . It ’s mental object and circumstance , the woods and the garden , in natural harmony .

The most common way to make a wooden salad bowl is to turn it on a lathe . This is done with a undivided firearm of Sir Henry Joseph Wood , or as Snow River does it , with pieces of wood join in slaughterer block way . In improver to being attractive , the butcher block building prevents the bowl from elongating the way it can when made from a single chunk of wood . When the bowl stretches , it develop cracks that may finally sabotage it .

Cracks are n’t the only thing that will reduce the life story of a wooden bowl ; so will improper washing . dishwashing machine are slaying on wooden bowl . High warmth and moisture can do irreparable harm . By the same token , wooden bowls should never intoxicate in weewee . Georgia home boy and water laundry believably is n’t even necessary so long as you limit the use of goods and services of your wooden bowl to salads . Just pass over the inside dry with a paper towel . Any residual vegetable oil will be rubbed into the surface and help preserve the wood . If you do rinse the trough , ok . Use red-hot sudsy pee but no harsh scrubbing lodgings . Dry it immediately .

Cohen suggests regular , once- or double - monthly oil snag for any wooden bowl . His bowl are treated with a intellectual nourishment - grade mineral oil before they leave the factory . Drew Langsner , a woodworker from North Carolina who wee-wee hand - carved wooden bowl , recommends walnut tree oil color . He enounce that unlike other oils , it tends to indurate on the surface and helps give the woods a durable coating .

As for that yard - sale special , think twice before you buy . If the trough is pitted , extort , or crack , it may be more trouble than it ’s worth to mend its original patina . A vigorous paw - sanding might help .

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