Million Island Dressing (Homemade Thousand Island), Reuben, and Big Mac+

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen is one of my favorite cookbooks. The guy knows what he’s doing. He makes recipes with awesome depth of flavor, and even shows how to make your own salad dressings. Awesome. And it’s not some rinky-dink recipe that tells you to put mayonnaise in with a bunch of other ingredients…you make your own mayo. Yep. Let that sink in. This is the real deal. Of course, after you have “3 cups” of fresh dressing (try a whole pickle jar full) that you need to use up in a week, you get creative with ways to use it. Reubens? Check. Big Macs (but better)? Check. And you’ll probably still need to make some Reuben-style hot dogs or something to use up that last little bit…I GUESS you could use it as salad dressing…

 

Million Island Dressing (adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen)

1 egg

1/4c diced onion (about half of a small/medium onion)

1c canola oil

1c diced tomatoes

2 hard-boiled eggs

1t salt

1t pepper

1t garlic powder/granulated garlic

1t onion powder/granulated onion

1/2t cayenne pepper

1/2c sweet pickle relish

1. Add the raw egg and onions to a blender or food processor and blend until combined (a few seconds). Add the oil in a thin stream with the processor still running (this can be tricky, depending on the processor…I had to stick a funnel into a pour spout on mine). This is the creation of the mayo. Pulse the processor/blender for a bit until the mixture looks like it’s getting thicker.

2. Add everything else EXCEPT the relish. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour dressing into a bowl or jar and mix in the relish. Refrigerate; keeps for up to 1 week or so.

Reuben tips:

You’ll need rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, and million island dressing. You can get a nice chunk of corned beef brisket in the refrigerated meat aisle of your local grocery store. Slow-cook it in your crock pot for 5 or 6 hours with a can of sauerkraut. About 2 pounds of brisket and 1 27oz can of sauerkraut (I like Silver Floss) will make about 7 or 8 sandwiches, depending on how much of each you like. I suggest toasting the rye bread a bit so the sauerkraut doesn’t make it soggy. If you drain the sauerkraut well, though, you don’t HAVE to toast the bread. Spread some dressing on both pieces of bread, top with sliced or pulled corned beef and sauerkraut, and enjoy!

Big Mac+ tips:

You’ll need a hamburger bun (preferably with sesame seeds, if you’re being authentic…I wasn’t) and a piece of bread to use as the middle layer. Grill up two beef patties, top with cheese, diced onions, lettuce, tomato (not authentic, I know…), and million island dressing. This will be impossible to eat in a clean fashion, so have napkins on hand. Good to have some oven fries on the side!

Reuben-style hot dog tips:

Grill a hot dog and bun; spread million island dressing on the bun, add the dog, and top with kraut. Easy!

Salad tips:

I'd suggest an ample dose of million island dressing over an iceberg or romaine chopped salad with raw onion half-moons and sliced hard-boiled eggs.