Recipe French Dressing (American Style)

TastyReuben

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French Dressing (American Style)
Makes about 1-1/4 cups

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
3 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB tomato puree*
2 TB ketchup
2 TB brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp dry red chili flakes (paprika)*
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TB grated garlic
2 TB finely chopped onion

Directions
Combine the olive oil and water in a blender and mix until smooth. Add all the remaining ingredients, except garlic and onion, and blend again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a deep bowl, add the garlic and onions and mix well.

* I used a mix of 2 TB tomato paste and 2 TB water
** On her website, she shows what looks like regular crushed red pepper flakes, but refers to it as paprika. I was out of red pepper flakes, so I used 1-1/4 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp cayenne.

Recipe from www.tarladalal.com


The CookingBites recipe challenge: brown sugar
 
I'm sure this may be a delicious dressing but its not a classic French dressing at all. We have a discussion about 'authentic' elsewhere and I'm cerainly not a hard line traditionalist. But this is so far from a classic French dressing that I think it needs a different title (I appreciate you have simply cited the recipe title as published).
 
its not a classic French dressing at all.
I think it’s another language/culture difference. From Wikipedia:

French dressing, in consumer-facing American cuisine and store-bought products in the United States, is a creamy dressing that varies in color from pale orange to bright red. It is made of oil, vinegar, sugar, and other flavorings, with the coloring derived from tomato and often paprika. It exists on a spectrum between Russian and Catalina dressing.
 
Here are some store-bought examples:

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All photos from Walmart
 
I think it’s another language/culture difference. From Wikipedia:

Blimey! Maybe you should add 'American style' to the title? Its rather misleading otherwise.

OK, its most definitely a language/culture thing. A 'classic' French dressing in France/UK (Europe in general?) is simply French mustard (Dijon), wine vinegar and olive oil whisked together. It may have a pinch of sugar and sometimes garlic. Here is a typical recipe:

French dressing recipe | BBC Good Food
 
OK, its most definitely a language/culture thing. A 'classic' French dressing in France/UK (Europe in general?) is simply French mustard (Dijon), wine vinegar and olive oil whisked together.
Here (casually, anyway) I think we’d just call that a vinaigrette.

Going back to the Wikipedia page, it actually makes for some interesting reading, so I’ll post it here. I never knew, for example, that up until last year, it was highly regulated here in the US.

French dressing - Wikipedia
 
There is a recipe in 1 of our Mickey Mouse cookbooks for a French dressing that has a few ingredients in common with Tasty's. I think it was served over a Cobb salad. I'd only ever had bottled French dressing before that, had never even thought about making my own.
 
Frech dressing was my favorite on salad as a kid. I haven't had it in years. Ranch dressing seems to have taken it's place in popularity, at least down here.

CD
 
Carnegie Hall 1974.jpg

November, 1974. My first visit to the US of A, on a month long choir tour with the London Bach Society. We spent almost every day in a different hotel, I recall ; mostly Holiday Inns, Ramada Inns, that sort of place.
Salads were always on the menu and I remember genuine excitement when we ordered salads and were asked " French, Thousand Islands, Blue Cheese or Ranch?" - dressings we´d never heard of nor eaten before, because we got salad cream or vinaigrette.
 
French Dressing (American Style)
Makes about 1-1/4 cups

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
3 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB tomato puree*
2 TB ketchup
2 TB brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp dry red chili flakes (paprika)*
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TB grated garlic
2 TB finely chopped onion

Directions
Combine the olive oil and water in a blender and mix until smooth. Add all the remaining ingredients, except garlic and onion, and blend again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a deep bowl, add the garlic and onions and mix well.

* I used a mix of 2 TB tomato paste and 2 TB water
** On her website, she shows what looks like regular crushed red pepper flakes, but refers to it as paprika. I was out of red pepper flakes, so I used 1-1/4 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp cayenne.

Recipe from www.tarladalal.com


The CookingBites recipe challenge: brown sugar

I may try it someday soon!! Just to see what it's like!! :whistling:
 
I may try it someday soon!! Just to see what it's like!! I thought that homemade French dressing was made from ketchup & mayo!! Add relish & some chopped hard-boiled eggs & you'll have Thousand Island Dressing. Hah!! :whistling:
 
Last edited:
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