Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

½-¾ cup well-shaken buttermilk
2-3 Tbs sour cream
1-2 Tbs mayonnaise
1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon or a combination, dill, parsley, chives or celery leaves
1 clove garlic finely minced with a microplane grater
½ tsp dijon mustard
few dashes Tabasco sauce or hot sauce of your choice, but a little vinegar is what you're looking for

Instructions

Combine all ingredients into a mason jar
Shake like the Dickens. Forget you ever whisked salad dressing before.
Open, taste, season to taste with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper.
Seal, and shake again. Instant ranch dressing nirvana.

Notes

A few notes: if you can get real buttermilk, it will make this 100 times better. Same goes for Duke's mayonnaise. You'll begin to figure out whether you like this dressing to be runnier and more buttermilk-heavy, or thicker and more like a dip, and adjust the proportions accordingly. We've had amazing success grating lemon zest into this dressing, sprinkling in smoked paprika, etc. It is endlessly customizable. It will keep for a few days in the refrigerator, but be forewarned: the garlic will get more aggressive the longer it sits.