Sauteed Garlic Salad Dressing

Please excuse me for the photo of my messy looking (almost empty) salad dressing jar. It was only after I had dressed my salad that I remembered to take a photo of the dressing.

Now, who loves garlic? Me! I love loads of garlic in my stir fried vegetables, salad dressings and I even love raw garlic when eating Chinese dishes. Raw garlic, light soya sauce and chili padi will whet my appetite, not that my appetite needs any help.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have been buying salad from Salad Atelier. Among the many choices of dressings, my favorite would have to be the Sauteed Garlic. I don't know how Salad Atelier does it but with some trial and error, I managed to reproduce the dressing.

Here's how it goes. You need a few cloves of garlic, olive oil,  vinegar, salt and pepper.

I made a big batch, 2 cups of olive oil and 1 whole bulb of garlic (13 cloves of garlic). Simply pour olive oil into a pan and add the garlic cloves. Turn the flame on low and let the oil heat up slowly. We don't want to brown the garlic, merely to cook it and infuse it into the oil.

When the oil heats up and starts bubbling, stir the garlic around to evenly cook it and to prevent browning. When it starts to get aromatic, switch off the flame and continue to stir the garlic around.

The garlic will continue to cook and when the bubbling stops, pour the whole lot into a glass measuring cup or a heatproof bowl.

Let the garlic sit in the oil until the oil cools down. Then add salt, pepper and vinegar.

Using an immersion blender or a regular blender, blend until garlic is fine and dressing is emulsified. It becomes a creamy consistency. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Then simply pour into an airtight jar and store in the fridge. I really love this dressing. More than I enjoy the regular one using raw garlic. Sauteeing the garlic mellows the sharpness of the  garlic and improves the flavor. 

Sauteed Garlic Salad Dressing

Recipe source : Phong Hong

Note : I made a big batch, you can halve the recipe

Ingredients :

- 2 cups olive oil

- 13 large cloves of garlic

- 1 cup apple cider vinegar

- 1.5 tsp sea salt or to taste

- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper or to taste

Method :

1. Put olive oil and garlic in a pan and cook over low flame.

2. When the oil heats up and bubbles start to appear, stir the garlic around. Do not brown the garlic.

3. When the garlic become aromatic, switch off the flame and continue to stir the garlic.

4. When the bubbling subsides, pour the olive oil and garlic into a heatproof bowl or measuring jug. 

5. Let the oil cool down.

6. Add salt, pepper and vinegar.

7. Using an immersion blender or pour the dressing into a regular blender, blend until garlic is fine and the oil and vinegar emulsifies.

8. Pour into an airtight jar and store in the fridge.