Balsamic Garlic Rosemary bread dipping oil

We recently tried a new bread dipping oil, Balsamic and Roasted Garlic Dipping Oil, from CDKitchen.com (#50862):

25 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus
1 cup olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place unpeeled garlic cloves in baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool. 

Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer garlic cloves to blender. Add vinegar and rosemary and puree herb mixture until smooth. With machine running, gradually add remaining 1 cup olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Dipping oil can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand 15 minutes at room temperature and whisk before using.)

This oil is very tasty - a strong, but not overwhelming garlic flavor and just enough rosemary to make the taste and scent quite interesting.  It is fun to make and the roasting garlic makes the house smell terrific.  My friend Renee and her family tried the oil with bread, like mine did, but she said her son also liked dipping cucumbers.  But, I have to warn you, no matter how good this tastes, it is not an attractive dish,  The balsamic "takes over" and colors the oil a very dark brown.  Using the blender makes a very thick mix -- of this very dark liquid.  Use your imagination.  But no matter how unappetizing this recipe may look, it tastes delicious.    

reduce the balsamic

I have been using a lot of balsamic vinegar lately, but it is just too sweet for me. Recently I tried half balsamic and half white wine vinegar (to three parts olive oil) -- just right. You still get the flavor and richness of the balsamic, but not as much -- and just right for me.

It really changes the consistency, too. This variation is not as good for bread dipping as the all balsamic, but a nicer consistency for salad, I think.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

My friend, Barb told me about this dressing -- so, let's call it Barb's Vinaigrette:

7 oz olive oil
2 oz balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper


Whisk or shake

The balsamic taste is very strong.  Balsamic tastes "sweet" to me, and I don't always like that, but this is an excellent, everyday dressing.  Add garlic and/or blue cheese and it is absolutely outstanding.

Also great as a dipping oil.

Starting with Vinaigrette

It seems that every cookbook with more than one or two salad dressing recipes includes a recipe for vinaigrette.  Generally the formula is three to four parts oil (usually olive oil) to one part vinegar, with salt and pepper.  Garlic and/or a teaspoon or so of Dijon mustard are almost standard. Herbs and other extras, if you wish. Whisk or shake -- I don't think it makes a difference.

So, there is the basic recipe.  Plain vinegar, cider or white or red wine vinegar: sure it changes the taste a bit, but the same basic recipe works.  Balsamic vinegar makes the biggest difference in the taste.  My friend, Barbara recently mentioned that she has been getting all kinds of compliments on her "new" salad dressing:  balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Can't get much easier than that.  I will have to try it.