Well, I bought back a bottle of Ranch dressing (specifically - "Hidden Valley - The Original Ranch Dressing") from a little supermarket lurking in the Financial district in New York on the recommendation of Renemy, yesterday I finally managed to remember to put it in my bag so we could all taste what the fuss was about...I took a quick trip to the nearest McDonalds (just down York Way) to score some freshly cooked French fries and we were all set...
Renemy chopped up some disposable cups to hold the dipping sauce, and I made sure they gave me some BBQ sauce tubs to counterpoint the Ranch (if needs be, as it looked like it might be sour), and it certainly did seem to benefit from it - Ranch is a little on the creamy side with a hint of onion and a gentle hit of garlic, making it very reminiscent of Ceaser salad dressing, it even almost manages to trick your taste buds into thinking there is cheese present, which there isn't...an interesting dip, but not sufficiently different to have developed itself as a unique dressing when facing up against the similarly styled Aioli-like options that have been omnipresent in the UK thanks to our proximity to France...
Still, if you can find some it's great for dipping fries/chips, and would be just outstanding for dipping pizza crusts (if you didn't want to smell too much of garlic in the morning)...and with the addition of some crumbled blue cheese we have the beginnings of an excellent dip for BBQ chicken wings...it's good stuff..! ;)
