Buttermilk Vinaigrette

Aretha Franklin used to come into Le Bernardin for her birthday every year. And she wouldn’t order a single item that was actually on the menu. One of her standing requests was a shredded carrot salad with raisins and ranch dressing! Needless to say, we didn’t have bottles of Hidden Valley squirreled away in Le Bernardin’s kitchen. So since I was working the sauce station, the task of making ranch from scratch invariably fell to me.

Now, although I’d been dipping my pizza crusts in ranch for most of my life, I’d never actually made it before. So I tried to feel my way through it, touching down all the creamy, tangy, herbaceous qualities associated with ranch dressing while still creating a product worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant (to say nothing of Ms. Aretha Franklin). This recipe is what I came up with. It’s even more pronounced in flavor than HVR, but much lighter in body; it manages to further increase the versatility of an already all-purpose dressing.

Use this buttermilk vinaigrette as a marinade for chicken, since the buttermilk will tenderize the meat. Pour it over a piece of fish and bake in the oven with a bit of salt and pepper. Drizzle it over a pile of greens topped with grilled shrimp. Swap it in for mayo in a lightened up egg, tuna, or pasta salad, or of course, use as a salad dressing.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Sunday Best' by Adrienne Cheatham. Buy the full book on Amazon. This book was selected as one of the best cookbooks of 2022.