Classic English Salad Cream - Oil Free Salad Dressing

French Tart's Note:

The salad cream that most of us in the UK know, love and use was invented by Heinz in 1914 and was very popular with working classes; a truly socialist salad dressing if you will. However, its popularity waned in the latter part of the century, with the arrival of the decadent mayonnaise, flaunting its Continental French and Spanish roots and pushing the humble salad cream to one side. However, like any good socialist, salad cream would not go away and still remains a firm favourite in the UK with people who have refused to climb that social ladder to mayonnaise!! My recipe for homemade salad cream comes from Mrs Beeton's cookbook originally, but I have made some modifications. Mrs Beeton uses quite a lot of vinegar in my humble opinion, but the recipe is flexible so add more if you wish. I prefer salad cream when I am trying to cut back on fat - plus I rather like it's tangy flavour, and it is truly wonderful when spooned over hard boiled eggs or fresh lettuce leaves. Or, try it in sandwiches and dips, for a lighter taste to mayonnaise.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 6 -8 free-range fresh eggs
• English mustard or Dijon mustard
• salt
• pepper
• vinegar , of your choice
• single cream
• lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. To start you will need to hard boil some eggs, I normally do 6 or 8 depending on the size of the egg. (Fresh salad cream will only last for about 3 to 4 days in the fridge, so it’s pointless making a huge batch.).
2. Boil the eggs for about 10 minutes then place in ice cold water to cool. Once cooled remove the shells and slice in half, place the yolks in a bowl and wrap the whites in cling film and place in the fridge, you can do something else with them.
3. To the egg yolks add a teaspoon of English or Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a splash of vinegar. You can also add a sqeeze of lemon juice too if you want. Blend all these together to form a thick paste. Now start to add some cream, do it slowly and keep mixing. You don’t want the sauce too thick or too runny.
4. When you think it’s nearly at the right consistency, stop and do a taste test. Now is the time to add more mustard or pepper if your taste buds demand it. Finish off by adding a little more vinegar until you acheive the right consistency.
5. Of course if you don’t want to add more vinegar add a little more cream, as I said earlier this is a flexible recipe so make it how you like it.
6. Store in a clean jam jar in the fridge for up to 3/4 days. Use in sandwiches, salads, dips, dressings etc.

Reviews

[Crafty Lady 13]

What a wonderful spread to put on sandwiches. It was similar to the filling in deviled eggs but more tangy. I only used a splash of vinegar because I didn't want it to be too tangy. It really gave the sandwich a great flavor and was much nicer than using plain mustard or mayonnaise. Made for March, 2009 Photo Tag.