Really Easy Home-made Ranch Dressing/Dipping Sauce

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I like ranch dressing.

There was a time when I had not even SEEN, much less tasted ranch dressing for 15-20 years.  As far as I was concerned, it was '70's and very, very passe.  A waste of my time and palate.

In the late 90's, say 1997 or so, I was the Executive Chef of the Canterbury Hotel in San Francisco.  It was the holiday season and a doctor was throwing a party in some of our event space.  He asked our director of catering for ranch dressing as his party was starting and she came to me.

She evidently thought that I must have a jug of it around somewhere, when I said no, she started to panic.  Seems she had already told him that we had it.

I told her I had not had any since I was a child and did not know what it tasted like, but I said "You know what it tastes like, right?  Let's make some."

Long story short, with her as my taster, we had some in about 5-10 minutes.

I thought, well that is the last time I'll have to deal with that tired old crap.

Four years later I move to Portland Oregon, and become the Executive Chef at Edgefield (a cool hotel owned by an equally cool company) and quickly realized that Ranch Dressing is Haute Cuisine in PDX!

Evidently it is to be served with nearly EVERYTHING!  Including pizza!?!

I am horrified.

This continued for about 6 more years and I started to come around.  While I do not think it belongs on everything, it has it's places.  Mostly salads with bacon and my son's chicken strips.

After trying many commercially produced versions, I set out to create my own.  Not surprising really, I do this a lot.

None of the cookbooks that I own have a recipe, so it was off to the internet.  I read about 40 recipes, selected three, tried one and altered it.  I think that the results were pretty good, but I failed the ultimate test, my son and his chicken strips.  He said it tasted really good, but there were too many vegetables in it!

To say my son doesn't like vegetables would be one of the greatest understatements of all time.  But that is another story.

Here is my recipe:

1 C Buttermilk

1 C Mayonnaise

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1/8 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Mustard Powder

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

1 T Flat Leaf Parsley (finely chopped)

1 tsp Chives (finely Chopped)

1/4 tsp dry Thyme (1 tsp if fresh)

1 tsp Granulated Sugar

This one is really about as simple as it can be, put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix until the texture is smooth and creamy.

This ranch is good as a dressing or dipping sauce.

Chanterelle Pate, Mushrooms from the fall forest that keep until spring

Wild mushrooms are a passion for me.  I can't wait for the first rain in the fall, and living in Portland, I know when it comes my beloved chanterelle mushrooms will be hard on its' heels.

First, a word on wild mushrooms.  If you choose to go hunting for them, go with someone who knows about them if you are unfamiliar.  It is the best way to leave the forest with something tasty that will not kill you.  I'm not joking about this.

This is what you can expect Chanterelles to look like in the forest:

The place where I go for my wild bounty boasts about 5-6 varieties of edible mushrooms, some that I am not sure about, and occasionally one of these:

That is a "Destroying Angel", as I understand the process, it will shut down your vital organs if ingested and medical assistance is not rendered.  I am told that even with medical attention, this guy will likely ruin your liver.

If you don't choose to have an experienced mushroom forager with you, it is a good idea to bring a good field guide with you to help you learn to identify which ones to keep and those to avoid.  The best one that I have found and that I bring with me most of the time I go foraging is called "All That Rain Promises".  It is a very good book that can be used by novices and more experienced mushroom hunters.  It does not contain all of the mushrooms that you will encounter, but will help you in your task.

 This past year was supposed to be a bad year for chanterelles though I have had a good season.  Nearly 14 pounds in three trips.

Another word on wild mushrooms...more of a gripe really, why do chefs put wild mushroom dishes on menus and don't include any wild mushrooms in them?  Do they think that the public is stupid?  It's a big peev with me.

I can't count the number of times I've read a menu that is supposed to have "wild" mushrooms on it only to find portabello, shiitake and oyster mushrooms the only of the fungi on the dishes.  My rule of thumb on that matter is that if it can be grown commercially, it isn't wild.

Chanterelles, Morels, Hedgehogs, Boletes and Porcinis cannot be grown, they must be gathered, thus wild.  The others in the list above are commercial crops.  Don't be fooled.  Their wild cousins pack much more interesting flavors and have the added bonus of the feeling of a job well done in finding them and an hour or two in the woods.

Even on days that I have not found any, the time in the woods is wonderful.

Today I am making a Chanterelle "paté".  The word paté is used loosely here as this is not an item that is cooked again.  It is more of a spread.

I thought of making this some weeks ago as I anticipated this years' foray into my mushroom spot.  I did some research on how to go about this and settled on making a variation of a chanterelle mushroom/butter spread that I found.

I have altered the recipe by removing a great deal of the butter (which is something I usually do not do), I usually use more butter than a recipe will call for, but the one I found had almost as much butter as chanterelles!

Here is my recipe:

24 oz Chanterelles cleaned and rough chopped

3 medium Garlic cloves (.8 oz) minced

9 T butter

1 T Lemon juice

1 T Tomato Paste

Kosher Salt

White Pepper

1/2 C Madiera

2 T Flat Leaf Parsley (sometimes called Italian parsley)

Let's start.

First clean the Chanterelles.  I usually scrape the stems and make sure that I have removed all of the pine needles and dirt that invariably stick to them in the woods.

The next step is to rough chop them.  No need to get to the fine texture that we will achieve later, but they need to be sauteed, and a rough chop will suit us perfectly.

Put 4 T of butter into a large sauté pan and sauté them with a bit of kosher salt and white pepper.  

As the mushrooms cook, they will release a fair amount of water.  While this is evaporating, add the garlic.  Check the seasoning at this point, you may need to add additional some kosher salt and white pepper.

Remember this is a recipe that is to be eaten cold or at room temperature (room temp is best), it needs to be robustly seasoned as the flavors in cold and tepid dishes are more muted than those of hot items.

Let the liquid all but evaporate and add the Madeira and tomato paste and simmer until the liquid is gone and the mushrooms have reached a slightly darker color.

Set aside to cool.

I poured my sautéed mushrooms onto a small sheet pan, let them cool a bit at room temp and then transferred them into the refrigerator to get cold. 

Once the mushrooms are cold, maybe 20 minutes, scrape them and all of the butter with which they were sautéed into a food processor.  Pulse a few times and then let it roll for a bit.  About two minutes.  

Test the seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Add the remaining butter and and the parsley and let it go in the processor until you have reached a consistency that is spreadable.

Once you have reached a consistency that works for you, transfer the mushrooms into ramekins for service.  I have garnished mine with more flat leaf parsley for decoration.

Lastly I poured a little gelatin over the top to help preserve it. 

Hold for service in refrigeration and enjoy with your guests.  Delicious!

As I am posting this blog a jar of the Chanterelle Pate is in my fridge at the ripe old age of nearly 5 months!  Just had some to make sure that I am not misleading anyone...Still mighty tasty!