"Green Goddess" Salad Dressing

When I was a kid, I developed a "taste" for the commercially bottled version of "Green Goddess"....used to put it on baked potatoes....which is weird 'cause it has anchovies in it, and I HATE anchovies !

Anyway, I've found several versions on the web, but nothing quite matches what my taste buds remember...."I'll know it when I taste it"

Any of you folks have a suggestion to try ? Thanks !

Dean...

What have you tried? What were the ingredients?

You can buy a bottle of Seven Seas Green Goddess salad dressing at any Super Wal Mart. I love the stuff. Pat Barnes sent me a 1/2 case of the stuff from his local HEB before I found it at Super Wal Mart. I told my parents about it a few weeks ago and talked to my Mom and Dad today from AZ and they found it at their Super Wal Mart.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
What have you tried? What were the ingredients? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kevin,

Going back through my notes, here's the one I noted that I liked the best. Two comments I made : "Quite strong on the herbs, especially after sitting a while" and "Substituted anchovy paste rather than real anchovies". I remember finding a tube of anchovy paste, so I was using that rather than buying a can of anchovies just to use a couple of fillets during my "experiments"

I also note than some of the recipies I have don't even use anchovies at all, and 1 uses avocado ! That would certainly give it the "Green" part (didn't try that one)....

Anyway, here's what I liked the best :

Green Goddess Dressing
From Food Networks Kitchens

3 anchovy filets, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, dried, and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup prepared or homemade mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the anchovies, mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, tarragon, basil, shallots, lemon juice, and the 1/4-teaspoon of salt in a blender. Puree to make a smooth dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Use immediately or store, covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 2 days.
Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.
Yield: 1 1/4 cups
Prep Time: 30 minutes

Thanks for any advice !

Dean....

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
You can buy a bottle of Seven Seas Green Goddess salad dressing at any Super Wal Mart. I love the stuff. Pat Barnes sent me a 1/2 case of the stuff from his local HEB before I found it at Super Wal Mart. I told my parents about it a few weeks ago and talked to my Mom and Dad today from AZ and they found it at their Super Wal Mart. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Bryan,

That's a great tip....thanks !!! I haven't seen it in many YEARS....my "usual" Wal Mart is not a "Super", but I think the one in Aberdeen is. Next time I make a run for some more Dragon Breath lump at the Short Stop (if they have it !), I'll scope out that Wal Mart. Been curious to know if they have the briskets, too.

I'm becoming a convert to Kevin's "Make It Yourself...It's Much Better" philosophy , so I'm curious to get his input on the "Green Goddess"

Dean...

One problem is that the ingredients of the original recipe--and all of the variations one finds, including TFN's--are more varied and pronounced than the bottled dressing, a weak representative of the original.

The bottled dressing ingredients:

Soybean oil, Water, Vinegar, Sugar, Dried sour cream ( creamcultured skim milk, culture ), Salt, Contains less than 2%of garlic, Xanthan gum, Natural flavor, Onion juice, Spice, Polysorbate 60, Sorbic acid and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, Mustard flour, Yellow #5, Blue #1.

The original did not contain sour cream. It was essentially an herbed mayo made from scratch, with anchovies. If your preference is more for the bottled you'll likely be able to get closer to it if you cut back dramatically on the herbs. The version below you mgiht try (with cut-back suggestions in parentheses).

3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar (2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons white wine vin)
2 egg yolks
3 cloves minced garlic (1 clove)
2 minced anchovy filets (1 teaspoon paste)
1 tablespoon fresh minced tarragon (1 teaspoon)
½ cup fresh minced parsley
1½ teaspoon lemon juice (2 teaspoons)
2 finely minced green onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
1 tablespoon chopped chives
2¾ cups olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Combine vinegar, egg yolks, garlic, anchovy filets, tarragon, parsley, lemon juice, onions, and chives. Beat until very fine or use blender. After well mixed, slowly add olive oil until sauce begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kevin,

Thanks much for your "suggestions" !

Just a few comments/questions :

One of the recipes I have says the following (haven't tried it...don't have the "source" on this one, either....probably could find it again using Google) :

"...This creamy, herby dressing was invented at the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco in the 1920's in honor of William Archer's hit play The Green Goddess. It enjoyed great success, especially in California, for decades and, in our opinion, is worth a revival." The recipe DOES include 1/2 cp sour cream !

I assume TFN is short for "The Food Network"....correct ?

Just looking at your suggestions, (and remember, I'm a "newbie" !), it looks like a LOT of olive oil !!! Is that correct ???

Anyway, your suggestions are much appreciated ! I'll try it, for sure ! Thanks again !

Dean...

Yes, TFN = The FodNetwork

Sour cream was added to the recipe by others some time later. Quite possibly as an addition when the use of pre-made mayo was used as the base.

The oil seems like a lot because you are making a mayonnaise from scratch.

You could sub jarred mayo instead ofthe oil and egg yolks (I would suggest Trader Joe's yellow label as it is unsweetened, more like 'normal' mayo), using 2.5 cups of that, .25 cups sour cream (if desired), and cutting all the suggested liquids (those in parentheses) in half. Blend with the remaining ingredients till smooth then cheat in a little more tarragon vin, white wine vin and/or lemon juice to taste.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Sour cream was added to the recipe by others some time later. Quite possibly as an addition when the use of pre-made mayo was used as the base.

The oil seems like a lot because you are making a mayonnaise from scratch.

You could sub jarred mayo instead ofthe oil and egg yolks (I would suggest Trader Joe's yellow label as it is unsweetened, more like 'normal' mayo), using 2.5 cups of that, .25 cups sour cream (if desired), and cutting all the suggested liquids (those in parentheses) in half. Blend with the remaining ingredients till smooth then cheat in a little more tarragon vin, white wine vin and/or lemon juice to taste. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kevin,

RE: the sour cream....my notes from another one that I tried (Calif. Egg Commission; doesn't have any anchovies) says : "....lot’s of sour cream taste, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing !" That tells me your version, with "homemade mayo" and no sour cream, is probably pretty darn close to what I'm looking for !

Thanks again for the advice....can't wait to try your "original" suggestions without the sub of jarred mayo May have to hit the kitchen tomorrow !

Dean...

Okay, today I made Kevin's suggested recipe, without the reductions in parantheses....made it straight up

Pic is here...

I was a little worried about the "making mayo from scratch" comment, especially after reading about horror stories on the web. I didn't want to do it "manually" and have my arm fall off from whisking....heck...that's why we buy food processors, right ? My food processor does have a small hole in the pusher tube for "drizzle" of the oil, so I went with it....

I have to admit....I'm happy with the way the consistency turned out I almost went deaf from the noise, but the mix thickened nicely (IMHO)

As far as "taste" goes, the jury is still out. Right out of the processor, it tasted kinda bland and "oily" to me....prominent tastes were the fresh tarragon, and the lemon juice....needed the salt ! I folded in salt and pepper, a 1/2 tsp of salt and a sprinkle of pepper, at a time ( 1 3/4 tsp salt total) until I got worried that it might get TOO salty after sitting....so it's in the fridge and resting. I'll see how it tastes after resting awhile.

Thanks again for the directions, Kevin !

Dean...

Wow ! After a few hours in the fridge, the mix tastes awesome ! The wife and I pulled some tortilla chips and dipped 'em in the dressing to see what the "current" taste was like...the herbs are much stronger....and the lemon/tarragon is much less...almost too salty, which is what I was worried about....we kept eating the chips with this as a dip addictive !

This is darn close to what my tastebuds remember

Dean...

Now try it on salad, perhaps crisp romaine with a baby greens mix that includes frisée, if you like bitter greens. Or nap a piece of smoked, grilled or poached salmon, chilled, room temp or warm, as a first course or lunch plate.

Now that you've made it once you should be able to tweak here and there if you wish. Also, you can use this procedure but change the herbs and/or vinegar to make a different dressing.

Glad it worked for you.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Now try it on salad, perhaps crisp romaine with a baby greens mix that includes frisée, if you like bitter greens. Or nap a piece of smoked, grilled or poached salmon, chilled, room temp or warm, as a first course or lunch plate.

Now that you've made it once you should be able to tweak here and there if you wish. Also, you can use this procedure but change the herbs and/or vinegar to make a different dressing.

Glad it worked for you. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kevin,

It tastes even better today....did the "finger dip" in it, and it's not as salty as I thought....guess the chip salt warped my taste buds a little yesterday

Two more questions for you :

First : Based on my photo, does the "consistency" look right to you ? I was wondering if I should keep processing it to see if it would thicken up more, but I didn't want to over-process it.

Second : Any suggestions for storing it ? Right now, I have it in a Tupperware bowl in the fridge....I'd like to come up with some kind of long-term storage so I could enjoy it often....with just the wife and I, we'll NEVER use it all within a few days !

Thanks again for giving me the confidence to try something like this !

Dean...

Based on your pic the consistency looks right to me.

The mixture is acidic enough that storage should be similar to that of mayo. Because of the flavorings, however, you should make an efort to reduce the air contact with the surface. Tupperware is good. Placing a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface of the sauce so it touches the entire surface as completely as possible will go a long way to maximizing the quality of the flavors over the longer term. After the plastic is applied, seal and burp your container as you usually would.

You're welcome. I'm glad you decided to go for it and that you and your wife like the results of your effort. That's the name of the game.