Parmesan Pepper Salad Dressing

A long time ago (more than 20 years, anyhow) in a land far away (not really, but it makes a good intro), one could find a very special salad dressing in local grocery stores, to wit: Parmesan-Pepper!

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Well, it was widely available for a short time, but then it disappeared from the store shelves, never again to be seen. I was distraught. During the short period in which I could buy it, it had become my favorite dressing; but I braced myself to face life without it.

Years passed, but I often remembered how I enjoyed that dressing, and recently I decided to see if anyone had tried to re-create the flavor. Man was I surprised! It seems that many others like the dressing as much as I did, and many of them had concocted recipés that they felt were close approximations! So I did what I usually do when faced with a plethora of possibilities: I compared the available sources, and found that most, if not all, of the published recipés were nearly identical. From these, I extracted the common components and played with the proportions, along with perhaps including a twist or two of my own. The result of all this is as follows:

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Suggested Equipment:

• Blender - your favorite type for small batches
  
• Common kitchen measures and tools
  
• Container suitable for storing and dispensing dressing
  

Ingredients:

1. Almost any vinegar will do.
   
2. I often use the commercial stuff, but foodies might insist on "fresh-grated".
   
3. A foodie, might also insist on cracked peppercorns instead. For my part, however, this works just fine.
   

Item		Amount
Mayonnaise	Sugar free preferred; e.g., Duke's® brand	½	cup
Sour cream	Unsweetened	½	cup
Milk	Whole (4% butterfat)	¼	cup
Vinegar	Apple cider1	2	Tbs
Cheese	Parmesan, grated fine2	2	Tbs
Black peper	Dry, ground3	2	Tbs
Onion	Dry, powder	½	tsp
Garlic	Dry, powder	½	tsp
Salt	Common	¼	tsp

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your favorite blending device.

2. Blend on high speed until you're satisfied with the distribution of the components.

3. Decant into a container suitable for distributing the dressing.

4. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before using.

Makes about 1½ cups.

That's all there is to it. I'm pleased to report that the resulting dressing is most satisfactory, and matches very well my memory of the taste and texture of the original.

This dressing contains no preservatives, and so should be used quickly and continuously until depleted. Keep refrigerated when not in use. After one week, at most, I would discard any unused dressing.