Back in the day, I used to go shopping across the American Border a few times a year. By that I don't mean shopping for clothing or stuff like that I mean Grocery shopping. I have always loved to Grocery shop and I especially loved Grocery shopping in America.
They had many things that we did not have available to us in Canada. Things like dry Italian Salad Dressing Mix and Dry Ranch Seasoning Mix. Those were things I like to use, not so much for salads, etc, but in other things.
Although to be sure I did make salad dressings with them from time to time. I especially loved the Italian one. You could make it lower fat if you wanted to. I have been dieting and trying to eat low fat for years not that it has done me any good.
There is no such thing here in the UK, those mises. You can get them from America supply shops from time to time, but they are usually out of stock and if you do find them, they cost an arm and a leg.
I found a recipe to make your own Ranch Seasoning Mix the other day on Gimme Some Oven. I was very keen to try it. First I had to source some Buttermilk Powder. You can make the recipe without it, but I really wanted to make the one with the milk powder.
I found some on Amazon. It wasn't cheap. But I am pretty sure I will make good use of it, and not just for this mix. I have been unable to even get buttermilk as of late, so I can use it to make that.
The mix itself without the buttermilk powder is relatively easy to compose. It is a pure mix of dried herbs and spices.
Onion powder and garlic powder. Make sure you don't use salts. You want the pure powders. I didn't have any onion powder, so I just blitzed onion flakes in a spice grinder to turn it into powder.
There is also some dried parsley, dried dillweed, dried chives and yes, onion flakes. Double the onion blast! There is also ground black pepper and fine sea salt.
It goes together in a snap. You can add the buttermilk powder, or not as you wish. I chose to add it. If you add the powder you can keep it for a month in the refrigerator or even longer in the freezer.
Otherwise you can keep it for up to a year in the cupboard in a sealed container. Its very easy to make Ranch Salad Dressing with it.
Simply measure a tablespoon of it into some milk and mayonnaise. Use whole fat milk and mayonnaise. I don't know if it would work with low fat. It might, but it might not.
And one of the good things about the mix and the dressing is that you can pronounce every single ingredient. There is nothing hidden in there. No preservatives or chemicals. I do so love making my own mixes for things.
I just stored mine in a small Bonne Maman Jam Jar. Those jars come in handy for all sorts. Don't ever throw them away! They are good for storing foods, buttons, etc. And they are tres charming!
When we used to go shopping in the US way back when, you used to be able to bring back a fresh turkey for each person in the car. I adore American turkey. I do not know what they do to their turkeys, but they are amazing to me.
I have never had a dry America Turkey. We used to bring the children with us and we would bring back at least four turkeys. (Bringing back 7 would be selfish!)
But we did bring back four. That would give us one for Christmas, one for Thanksgiving, one for Easter and one for whenever. Yes, we loved turkey. I still do.
And I have to say I love this dressing mix. It is so quick and easy to make and it is delicious. I can see me using it for all sorts.
Of course the first thing I had to do was to make a salad with it. I didn't have a lot of salad ingredients in the house, bar lettuce and tomatoes.
But the good thing is, if you know what you are doing, you can make a salad out of just about anything. I had some courgette/zucchini and I chopped that up.
Then I added some green beans, boccoli, corn, peas and red onion. It was tres yummy. Tres yummy indeed!
Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix
Yield: 1 cupAuthor: Marie Raynerprep time: 5 Mintotal time: 5 MinThis is such an easy make and if anything I think it is even better than the store brand!Ingredients
- 2 TBS dried parsley leaves
- 2 tsp dried dill weed
- 2 tsp garlic powder (not salt)
- 2 tsp onion powder (not salt)
- 2 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup (42g) buttermilk powder (see note)
Instructions
- Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until thorougly combined. (You can pulse it in a spice grinder or food processor if you want a finer mix. I like it as it is.)
- Store in an airtight container in a dark place for up to a year. If you have used the buttermilk powder, you will have to keep it in the refrigerator. It will keep one month.
- 3 TBS of this seasoning (with buttermilk powder) is the equivalent of 1 package of storebought ranch seasoning mix.
notes:
Using Buttermilk Powder: If you want to make a mix that is identical to the packaged mix, do use the buttermilk powder. If you want to turn the seasoning into ranch dressing, you can add fresh buttermilk. To Make Ranch Dressing: Combine 1 TBS of the mix (including buttermilk powder) plus 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk and 1/3 cup (76g) whole fat mayonnaise.Did you make this recipe?
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