Homemade Parmesan & Cracked Peppercorn Dressing

I've told you all about my childhood.  Every Sunday we would visit my grandparents and every Sunday my Grandmother Mary would have a delicious Sunday meal where the adults sat in the dining room on the blue velvet covered dining chairs.  I'm happy to say I have that same dining table and chairs in my dining room (although I did recover the chairs) and I'm trying to continue her tradition of that Sunday meal.  It's kind of our day to splurge and have a hearty home-cooked meal, usually with dessert.  We're in love the the sous vide machine and this past Sunday, we made my spicy herb rubbed roast, only instead of using the oven we used the sous vide machine.  To say it was fabulous is an understatement.  A $12 roast tasted like the best prime rib.  Along with the roast we had some fingerling potatoes and a fresh salad with heirloom tomatoes and the creamiest, tastiest Homemade Parmesan & Cracked Peppercorn Dressing.  For dessert with had a peach pie inspired by my purchase of an antique pie bird.  (But that is a whole other blog post....)   Anyway, back to this delicious salad dressing.  It's super creamy, with the rich addition of Parmesan cheese and cracked peppercorns. I'm a fan of the Tellicherry peppercorns, they have a bold, slightly spicy flavor.  Freshly cracking the whole peppercorns gives the dressing the best flavor.  Complex, but not too peppery or pungent.  It's the perfect dressing to accompany those fresh summer greens and tomatoes!

Homemade Parmesan & Cracked Peppercorn Dressing
So good!

You can't beat this dressing on fresh greens and
some heirloom summer tomatoes and cucumbers!

Make it the night before so the flavors have plenty of
time to "bloom." 

Homemade Parmesan & Cracked Peppercorn Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise (we like Duke's)
1 cup whole milk
1/4 sour cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons cracked peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt to taste

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, peppercorns, garlic powder and onion powder.  Taste and season with salt as needed.  Refrigerate several hours or overnight. 

NOTE:  You can adjust the thickness of the dressing by adding more or less milk.  A great tip for the peppercorns (and other spices) is to purchase an inexpensive coffee grinder that you use only for grinding spices.  This will do a great job cracking the peppercorns and you'll be able to make your own meat rubs and spice blends too.  Just don't use your regular grinder or you'll have some funky tasting coffee!