About the Recipe
Using the basic steps in this recipe, you can make a variety of creamy dressings. You can try using different herbs, cheeses and spices to create your own varieties.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of extra light olive oil
5 large egg yolks
¼ cup of dry white wine (+ 3 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
¾ teaspoon of lemon juice
4 grams of garlic, minced (1 bud)
5 grams of anchovies (1 fillet), finely chopped
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Preparation
What You Will Need - At a Glance
Making the White Wine and Oregano Reduction
Pour ¼ cup of dry white wine into a small pot and add 2 teaspoons of dried oregano.
Bring to a boil and let it simmer for one minute.
Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Tempering the Egg Yolks
Start by selecting a medium sized pot for boiling water. Then, select a stainless steel bowl that can sit on top of the pot to act as a double boiler.
You need only a small pot and a stainless steel bowl approximately 8 inches in diameter. The pot of boiling water will only be used to slightly warm the egg yolks before blending in the butter. This is what is referred to as "tempering".
Bring the water to a light boil.
Put the egg yolks in a medium sized stainless steel bowl and whisk them for 15 seconds.
While whisking constantly, rest the bowl of egg yolks over the pot of boiling water for 2 seconds and then remove it and continue whisking for 5 seconds. Repeat this process 3 more times.
Making the Dressing
Wet a tea towel, wring it dry and then roll it along its length. Arrange it in a circle on the counter and rest your bowl of liquefied and tempered egg yolk on top of it. This will prevent the bowl from spinning around during the next step.
While constantly whisking quickly, gradually incorporate the olive oil with the egg yolks by pouring it very slowly.
After adding approximately ½ a cup of olive oil, add a few pinches of oregano from the reduction with a bit of the liquid (about 1 teaspoon). You can filter the oregano out of the liquid and put it all in the dressing but just a few pinches will do.
Make sure you add only a bit of liquid at a time or the dressing might separate.
Continue whisking and gradually adding oil until you have incorporated another ½ cup.
Add the lemon juice and continue whisking. Add a bit more of the wine reduction (about 1 teaspoon).
Continue incorporating the remaining oil while whisking constantly.
The desired consistency of the final product is similar to off-the-shelf dressings. It should be thin enough to pour, like a pancake batter, but not so thin as to be watery.
Add the parmesan cheese, minced garlic, finely chopped anchovy fillet(s) and ground black pepper.
You can add more garlic and/or anchovies if you like a bolder flavor.
Wisk a bit then add salt to taste.
Do the final thinning after incorporating the parmesan cheese.
Incorporate 2-3 teaspoons of dry white wine (not from the reduction). This gives the dressing a wonderful flavor. The wine in the reduction has a different flavor than the wine straight out of the bottle because of the boiling process.
Refrigerate. This dressing should be used within 3-4 days.
