French Dressing
Apr 16, 2013 Today, Grant makes French Dressing!
I got this recipe from a guy that I worked with at the Iron Horse Supper Club in Sheldon, Iowa - Gene Coon. He was retired Navy and had operated a successful catering operation for many years. He also made salad dressing, which was sold in the grocery stores in northwest Iowa. One was called L'trio French, and there was almost always a jar in the refrigerator at home when I was a kid.
Working with Gene when I was a young chef was quite a treat. He was in his 60's and I was 19. I learned lots of "stuff" from him, as he had years of experience. I may have picked up a few of Gene's habits, some good, some not so good. Knowing him and learning from him has enriched my career.
The restaurant was new and we made all of the salad dressings from scratch. He told me this dressing was similar to the L'trio French- but we couldn't use that recipe because he had sold the dressing recipe and the trademark to "Cookies" BBQ company in Wall Lake. To the best of my knowledge, they have never produced the dressing. He did tell me the difference between this recipe and the one he sold. I will carry that secret to my grave- cooks code.
Anyway, when I became the owner of "R" Place Restaurant in Bloomfield, Iowa, in 1987, we began to make our own salad dressings and this one became quite popular with the staff and clientele.
It is still good, I made some the other day. You do have to have a mixer and beat the daylights out of it so it emulsifies correctly. It is nice and tangy, and just a little sweet; I like it simply drizzled over a plate of sliced hard boiled eggs, Amy likes it drizzled over cottage cheese. My old friend, Pat Niichel, used to love it with his french fries.
So, enough history - let's make some dressing.
French Dressing
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup chili sauce (bottled)
3/4 cup onion (diced very fine)
2 cups good salad oil
Make sure the onions are finely diced.
Measure all ingredients, except the oil, into a stand mixer bowl.
Mix together until well dissolved.
Add oil (slowly) in a small stream with the mixer running on high.
Mix until completely emulsified and thick.
Makes about 4 cups.
Enjoy with your favorite salad ingredients.
Let us know if you try this recipe!
homemade dressing
Reader Comments (7)
I made the French dressing last week and it is the best dressing I have ever tasted by far. I have tried many bottled dressings trying to find the best french one, and Grant's is what I have been looking for, spicy but sweet. I will probably never buy bottled dressing again. Thank-you Grant for sharing this.
It's my favorite French dressing too, Martha! I put it on lots of other things, too, not just salad!
I recall L'trio dressing. My Mother kept it in our cupboard in Sioux Center for when we had salad. I liked it and recently thought about it so I searched and found this site. I seem to recall that it had poppyseed in it. I searched in a Woodman's store and a Sendik's, both here in SE Wisconsin and found nothing that was even close to appearing like L'trio. Thanks for the French dressing recipe; will try it out soon.
Thanks for stopping by, Bill. This dressing is really good, I think it will remind of l'trio's. Let us know when you try it!
I made a half batch that almost filled a 16 oz salad dressing bottle and added two level teaspoons of poppyseed. The dressing turned out great; the taste and appearance (semi-transparent) are as I remember although the last time I tasted L'trio might have been in the very early 1960s. I used vegetable oil but next time will try Canola oil or olive oil. Somebody could market this dressing as it is as good as or better than any other in my opinion. Thank you very much for the recipe. It is simple and quick to make up a batch and I intend to include this dressing in our collection of about six for the foreseeable future. I'm on a binge for now; had this dressing on my daily salad for every day but one for the last week. The recipe might not be identical to the original L'trio but is just as good although taste memory over 50 years old might be questioned.
I'm so glad you made the recipe and tweaked it to be more like L'Trios! I know Grant usually uses canola oil when he makes it for us. It really is about the only dressing I eat anymore!
It may have been celery seed, not poppy seed. Can anyone verify this?