She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were on the road a few weeks ago (Montana and Wyoming) and happened to dine at what has now probably become my favorite burger place of all time – Born in a Barn.
It’s tiny, situated on the edge of Laramie’s old downtown district, and nestled right up against the (pretty damned busy) rail yard. The menu is pretty basic – it is a burger joint after all – though the meat is fresh ground daily by a local butcher, their buns are baked fresh in town, and everything possible is crafted in house.
During our lunch, we saw everybody from the local Mormon missionaries on tour to the expected coeds to attorneys in tasseled shoes to welders to real by-god cowboys in town for the day.
The burgers at lunch were outrageous, though the thing we kept coming back to thinking about the meal was a Honey Mustard dressing / dipping sauce that was so fracking tasty it sent me back to the restaurant to pester them for the recipe.
The lanky guy manning the flat top as I peered through the pass thru looked me up and down and whipped off the ratio of the key ingredients below, warning about not over-acidifying it with too much vinegar or going too far with the shallots and garlic.
Doing a bit of research later there are of course dozens if not hundreds of recipes for honey mustard dressing and sauce floating around out there, some damned good ones, though we really like the fact this doesn’t have you add any processed oils (almost all of which are increasingly evident to be damned unhealthy).
You really don’t need to add anything beyond the key three ingredients, though we’ve been adding a pinch of granulated garlic and grating in up to a whole shallot of late.
The big win here is this: thickened up with a dollop or two of mayonnaise this makes a killer sandwich spread for a fried chicken (or whatever the hell) sandwich too.
The summer’s river lunches just got better.
Scant 2/3 cup good honey
Generous 1/3 cup good dijon mustard
1/4 cup rice wine or apple cider vinegar (start with half)Consider adding:
1-2 teaspoons grated or minced shallot
OR pinch of onion powder
1/2 grated or minced garlic clove
OR pinch of granulated garlic
Minced fresh herbs
Whisk together the core three ingredients; try starting with half the vinegar called for and adjust to your tastes.
It’s ready to go or you can whisk in any of the goodies in the ‘Consider Adding’ list.
You’ll probably use it all up right after mixing; keep any remaining covered in the fridge.
Enjoy.
