Name: Orange-Port Dressing with Walnut Oil
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups ruby port; 1/2 cup orange juice; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 2 tablespoons heavy cream , room temperature; 2 tablespoons orange marmalade; 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves; 1/4 teaspoon table salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons walnut oil; 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Why This Recipe Works

We built our salad dressing recipes around ingredients not regularly used in dressings, including apples, raisins, carrot juice, and ruby port. We balanced these ingredients with fats such as cream, buttermilk, mayonnaise, nut oils, and yogurt and punctuated the dressings with condiments such as chili paste and orange marmalade. To give our dressing recipes more depth and intensity of flavor, we turned to the stovetop to reduce wine and juices and toast spices and sesame seeds.

Before You Begin

Use this sweet, smooth dressing on assertive bitter greens such as escarole, radicchio, and endive. Appropriate salad garnishes include toasted nuts and crumbled blue cheese. For two servings, start with 1 tablespoon of this dressing per quart of greens, adding more as desired.

Instructions

Simmer port and orange juice in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl; cool to room temperature.

Whisk vinegar, cream, marmalade, thyme, salt, and pepper into cooled port reduction. Whisk in oils until incorporated. (Can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks.)