April Bloomfield's Lemon Caper Dressing
Serve with something rich and fatty, and drink it in.
First you start with April Bloomfield's new book. This cover has us in awe.
It's pretty inside too.
Segment your lemons first. Start by cutting off both ends. (Don't worry, you can squeeze the juice from them after so they won't go to waste.)
Then set your lemon on its bum and shave off the sides to expose the segments.
Any lingering pith can just be trimmed away.
Then (carefully!) slice along each membrane to free the segments -- do this over your bowl to catch the juices.
Ta-da!
You're left with this shaggy thing, but there's still lots of juice trapped in there.
So squeeze!
Lemon meat, with debris.
Next, turn to your shallot.
To mince, first trim off the root end.
Then slice in half length-wise.
The peels should roll away easily. Trim that dried out tip while you're at it.
Lay it flat and (again, carefully!) make even horizontal cuts in your shallot, leaving the root end intact to hold it all together.
It should look like a relatively even stack.
Next up: a row of vertical slits, again leaving the root intact.
Almost there! Know where we're going next?
The last cut -- chop off even rows vertically again in at a 90 degree angle from your last cut, moving toward the root.
Then you can leave them as is, or for salad dressing, I like to run the knife through a few more times, to mince them to "smithereen" stage.
Last thing to chop -- capers!
Push them into your bowl, where your shallots and lemon juice are waiting.
Small amounts of flaky sea salt and superfine sugar balance out the seasoning.
And a whole lot of Dijon mustard makes it creamy and kicky. Use a good one.
Last call for olive oil.
Whisk (almost) all your ingredients together. Thanks to all that mustard, it will thicken and come together well, even without going out of your way to slowly emulsify the dressing.
Finally the lemon segments are back for a swim.
The punchiest dressing you may ever taste. You won't be able to get enough.
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Genius Recipes says: At first glance, this is a shockingly brash dressing. April Bloomfield uses not just lemon juice, but whole lemon segments, and more mustard than could possibly seem like a good idea. But she also knows about restraint, and adds just enough addictive nips of caper and shallot to keep you going, and gentler undercurrents of lemon juice, salt, and sugar. At The Spotted Pig, she serves it with a fried pig's ear salad, but salads with other fatty meats, cheeses or avocado work too. Bloomfield says finely chopped parsley is a nice addition. Adapted very slightly from A Girl and Her Pig (Ecco, 2012)
Makes about 1 cup
- 2 medium lemons
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (choose one whose flavor you like on its own -- we used Maille)
- 2 tablespoons drained capers, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Maldon or another flaky sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Segment the lemons over a bowl to catch the juices (see note below). Set aside.
- Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a separate bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and stir well.
- Add the lemon segments and toss gently to coat them without breaking them up. Use straightaway or chill in the fridge, covered, for up to an hour.
- Note: To segment the lemons: Use a sharp knife to cut off just enough of the fruit's top and bottom to expose a full circle of the flesh on either end. Stand the lemon on one of its ends, place your knife point at the seam where the fruit meets the pith, and use a gentle sawing motion to cut away a wide strip of pith and skin, following the curve of the fruit from top to bottom. Repeat the process until all you have left is a nice, round, naked fruit. If you've missed any white pith, trim it off. Make a cut down either side of each segment, right against the membrane, and gently pry out each segment, one at a time (see slideshow). Flick out any seeds, and set the segments aside in a bowl, reserving the juicy membranes.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
29 days ago Nikki Werner
Genius indeed. Dressed butter lettuce leaves with this zingy dressing and served as a side to confit pork belly. SO good.
about 1 month ago Regine
Yes, squeeze the juice out of the membrane; but I don't know how much juice would come out. But you can also do like me, skip the segmenting process and just use 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice combined with with 1 tsp grated lemon zest.
about 1 month ago suzygregory
Are you squeezing the juice out of the membranes left after removing intact segments? If so, how much juice do you think is coming out of the membranes...1 or 2 T.???
5 months ago Pradagirl47
add a few cloves of garlic and it is perfect
5 months ago jmnookin
Love, love, love. THis has become my favorite dressing. I make a batch and use it for a week on salad. I've made it without the segmenting process as well as with it -- it's better with, but it's good both ways.
6 months ago fhp
If you love this dressing try to apply the same flavoring to your next tuna salad. Olive oil packed tuna with mustard, capers, lemon juice and dijon is a delicious alternative to mayonnaise and celery. I always serve as a plated compose Nicoise.
9 months ago amyeik
So delicious. Every time I come home from work and peek towards my raised bed, I think..."Yummy dressing...and oh, yeah, spinach." I love my spinach now, but let me tell you, I love this recipe more. BTW, Don't fret about segments and whatnot, just add some lemony-ness via zest, via juice. A note, though, pulp is what makes it so don't go too long without not trying the segment process...
10 months ago ConnieLeAir
Omg! Artichokes, salmon, asparagus, broccoli, ham egg salad sandwich. Making this tomorrow for girls night! Thanks for sharing!
10 months ago Regine
This is so delicious. I made it again but to make the preparation easier, I skipped the lemon segments and just used as a substitute 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice combined with 1 tsp grated lemon zest. This was spectacular as well. I then tossed 1 lb of haricots verts (I bought the frozen ones from Whole Foods and cooked them according to the microwave instructions) with some of the dressing and added about about 1/2 cup each (or to taste) dried cranberries and slivered almonds. You can eat this warmed, cold, or at room temperature. Even my 7 year old who is not to crazy about haricots verts loved it. Really wonderful! The dressing is good too of course in salads and drizzled on salmon. I can even lick the spoon containing the dressing.
10 months ago msmely
It seems obvious, but this is absolutely decadent with smoked salmon on a salad.
10 months ago bspears
April I have made this dressing twice. The first time I used it on a salad of diced roasted chicken with diced cucumbers, carrots, and pine nuts served on lettuce rolls. It was fantastic. The second time was on plain butter lettuce salad served with tastefoods beef tenderloin. What a great recipe. I think I am going to use it on a cedar plank salmon next. THANKS!
10 months ago iowabaker
Could I sub green onion or chives for shallot? I don't keep shallots on hand as I seldom cook with them.
10 months ago iowabaker
Could I sub green onion or chives for shallot? I don't keep shallots on hand as I seldom cook with them.
10 months ago ellenu
I just made this today. And I'm going to make it again tomorrow. It is remarkably good.
10 months ago Regine
I LOVED LOVED this dressing. I made it for the first time yesterday. I just had a plate of corn kernels, steamed carrots, and avocado slices topped with this delicous dressing for lunch. I could lick the dressing by itself. I think it might be good too topped on salmon or fish, or even baked potatoes. Really DELICIOUS. Thanks for sharing. I am guessing too that if one is in a hurry, one could do this dressing with the juice of the 2 lemons and just skip the lemon segments. Either way, this is a dressing I will be using quite often.
11 months ago Sheilad2000
Delicious! I used meyer lemons right from my tree...probably not as zippy as regular lemons, but yummy just the same.
11 months ago KelsoKitchen
Made this today & served it along with a baked ham, potatoes au gratin & braised leeks. It was the PERFECT foil to all that richness. I couldn't stop eating it. Definitely adding it to my list of standards.
11 months ago jasonjason
@Cade - you're both keeping the segments intact and squeezing the juice from the membranes that remain after you're finished supreming the lemon. double acting citrus!
11 months ago Cade
Not sure if you keep the segments intact or if you squeeze the juice out of them. Where exactly are you getting the juice? Sorry, the recipe seems confusing. I still want to make it though!