Best New Orleans Salad Dressing Recipes

LOUISIANA SUNBURST SALAD

Steps:

• Soak the cranberries overnight in the port. Or for at least 6 hours.
• To toast the almonds: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter almonds on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake them 5 - 7 minutes or until just starting to turn golden and are fragrant. Watch them closely, as they can burn easily.
• In a large mixing bowl, or wooden salad bowl, add the oil, water, vinegar, Tabasco, cinnamon and sugar. Whisk until emulsified. Add the lettuce and toss. Season with salt and pepper. You can also add the vinaigrette ingredients to a mason jar and shake the jar to emulsify.
• Place the greens on serving plates and garnish with the crumbled cheese, cranberries, and almonds. Serve immediately.

NEW ORLEANS SALAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together.

TRADITIONAL NEW ORLEANS OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• In a LARGE black cast iron Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and saute' the smoked sausage, onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and green onion tops until all of them are tender.
• The one thing you want to remember is to keep the butter hot, but don't let it burn (and don't let the garlic burn either or it will turn bitter).
• I also suggest that you keep stirring the mixture to cook it uniformly.
• Next, stir in the parsley.
• Then gradually stir in the chopped oysters, the oyster liquor, and the turkey pan drippings. Notice I said to gradually stir. The reason for this is that you do not want to reduce the heat, lowering the cooking temperature will cause excessive water to be released from the oysters and you'll have to add too much bread to the finished dish.
• Now cook the oysters gently over medium high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring all the while.
• And when all the ingredients are well mixed, drop in the poultry seasoning, basil, thyme, seafood seasoning, black pepper and salt. About the salt; taste your raw oysters to see if they are naturally salty before adding the prescribed amount.
• You may have to reduce additional salt if nature has provided her own.
• At this point, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes to allow time for the flavors to marry.
• This is one of the secrets to making a really good oyster dressing. Don't rush or skip this step!
• After the simmering process is done, remove the pot from the fire and begin adding the bread chunks a few at a time.
• Note that you do not have to add all four cups.
• If you want your dressing moist, stop adding bread when you get to the texture you desire.
• If you want a drier stuffing, add all four cups, even a little more if your taste and needs dictate.
• Now taste the dressing again and make your final seasoning adjustments.
• The objective is to get the bread to absorb all the pan liquor, thereby binding everything together.
• When, in your estimation, the dressing is ready (it shouldn't be soupy, but it shouldn't be dry either), allow it to cool slightly. Then rapidly stir in the raw egg to tie everything together and cover it for a few minutes to let it set up.
• This is where the richness comes in and it's how the final blending brings out full flavor.
• Oh, and if by chance you've miscalculated and made the mixture a bit too dry, just pour in a little extra turkey drippings.
• The only thing left to do is to transfer the dressing right from the Dutch oven to a buttered casserole dish, generously sprinkle the top with the buttered cracker crumbs, drizzle on a little extra melted butter, and bake it for about 25 minutes uncovered in a 375°F oven.
• Fresh bread chunks are better than dried crumbs in your oyster dressing because they tend to cook up fluffy rather than pasty. So to make fresh bread chunks, just take fresh sliced bread or French bread and pull apart small bite-side pieces.
• To make your buttered cracker crumb topping, simply drop regular saltine crackers into the processor and, while the blades are spinning, pour in a couple of tablespoons of melted butter.

REAL N'AWLINS MUFFULETTA

Steps:

• To Make Olive Salad: In a medium bowl, combine the green olives, kalamata olives, garlic, cauliflower, capers, celery, carrot, pepperoncini, cocktail onions, celery seed, oregano, basil, black pepper, vinegar, olive oil and canola oil. Mix together and transfer mixture into a glass jar (or other nonreactive container). If needed, pour in more oil to cover. Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least overnight.
• To Make Sandwiches: Cut loaves of bread in half horizontally; hollow out some of the excess bread to make room for filling. Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts olive salad, including oil. Layer 'bottom half' of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella and Provolone. Replace 'top half' on each loaf and cut sandwich into quarters.
• Serve immediately, or wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours; this will allow for the flavors to mingle and the olive salad to soak into the bread.

NEW ORLEANS SOAKED SALAD

Steps:

• Note: It is important that at least two kinds of lettuce is used and the lettuce is very dry. I wash the lettuce, spin it in a salad spinner and then lay out on a clean kitchen towel to dry.
• Mix all the dressing ingrediants, including dried basil if using, in a bowl and whisk briskly at least 1 minute. If using fresh basil, toss with the lettuce.
• Toss the lettuce with the tomatoes and the shredded basil if using fresh. Pour salad dressing over and toss thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate at least 3-4 hours, or longer if you have time.
• To serve, toss the salad again. Use salad bowls and add a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the bottom of the bowl to each serving.

BON TON CAFE SALAD DRESSING

Steps:

• 1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. except olive oil. Whip until thoroughly mixed. Slowly pour in olive oil while whipping vigorously. Great on salad greens but may also be used as a marinade for meat, chicken, poultry, fish and tofu.