Christoph's house dressing

Units

Temperature

Servings

Ingredients

200 g Greek yogurt, full fat; low fat splits and tastes chalky
45 ml pickle juice, straight from the jar, and this is the whole trick
30 ml olive oil
20 ml white wine vinegar
8 g dried dill, or a good handful of fresh, chopped
5 g garlic powder, powder rather than fresh, which turns harsh in yogurt overnight
4 g coarse black pepper, more than feels right
3 g fine salt, taste first; the pickle juice is already salty

Whisk the yogurt with the pickle juice first, before anything else goes in. Yogurt takes liquid badly if you add it all at once, and starting with the thinnest ingredient gets you a smooth base rather than lumps you then have to chase.
Add the oil in a thin stream while whisking. It will look like it is about to split and then come together.
Vinegar, dill, garlic powder, pepper, then taste before adding any salt at all.
Rest 30 minutes in the fridge. The dried dill needs to rehydrate and the garlic powder needs to lose its raw edge. It is noticeably better after an hour and better again the next day.

The pickle juice is doing three jobs. Acid, salt, and the dill and garlic that were already in the brine. It is why this tastes more finished than a yogurt dressing made with lemon.
Which pickle jar matters. Dill pickle brine is what this is built on. Sweet gherkin brine makes it taste like sandwich spread, and the brine from pickled beetroot will turn the whole thing pink.
Garlic powder rather than fresh. Fresh garlic in a yogurt dressing gets sharper and slightly bitter over a couple of days. Powder stays where you put it, which matters when you make a jar to last the week.
Thickness is the dial. As written it is a dressing. Leave out the vinegar and half the pickle juice and it is a dip for crisps and raw vegetables. Add another 50 ml of pickle juice and it is thin enough for a grain bowl.
It keeps a week in the fridge and separates a little, which a shake fixes.

Ranch direction. Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of onion powder and a handful of chopped chives.
Green goddess direction. Blend in a large handful of parsley and basil and a couple of anchovies, or a teaspoon of white miso instead to keep it vegetarian.
Hot direction. A tablespoon of sriracha or a teaspoon of Aleppo pepper.
Caesar direction. Two mashed anchovies, a teaspoon of Dijon and 30 g of grated parmesan. For a vegetarian caesar, swap the anchovies for a teaspoon of white miso and a few chopped capers.

Greek yogurt can be skyr for more protein and a sharper finish, or labneh thinned with water. Ordinary yogurt is too loose unless you strain it first.
No pickle jar open. 30 ml of white wine vinegar plus an extra pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar approximates the brine. It is not as good.