A couple of weeks ago, I was chosen to be a contestant in the Hidden Valley® Recipe Challenge. I wanted the Hidden Valley® dry mix to use for one of my potential entries. We live in a small urban area with two grocery stores (No Frills, Sobey's) and a Wal-mart. I checked all three stores without any luck finding dried salad dressing mix. I know at one time these were quite popular. The salad decanters with markings as to how much oil and vinegar to add were sold right beside them. None of the stores carry them any more. In order to make this dish I really needed the dry mix so I sent out an SOS to my family and friends then set about finding a dry mix ranch mix online. A friend came to the rescue with a packet of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix but before using it I noticed a tear in the package so decided against it. It definitely came from the US as there was no mandatory French labeling as required on Canadian products. I compared the ingredients on that package to that of the recipe I had found then created my own recipe. Clone recipes are born out of necessity either to save money or because the original is not available in your area.
The recipe I found online had paprika and fresh ground pepper but closely inspecting the original packet showed no signs of either. The recipe I found had no buttermilk in it even though the original packet listed buttermilk as a main ingredient. Based on that, I set about getting creative. MSG was listed on the original packet but I didn't use that in my clone recipe. The dry clone version tastes (finger tip test) very much like the original packet mix. The clone recipe makes a bit more than the original packet so adjust the dressing as required for consistency.
Hidden Valley® Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix Clone source: Garden Gnome2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp organic sugar
1½ tsp parsley flakes
2 tbsp buttermilk powder
½ tsp citric acid
¼ tsp xanthum gum
Dressing: Combine 1 c milk and 1 cup mayonnaise in a blender. With the blender running, slowly pour in ½ c of the clone mix. This is necessary for the xanthum gum to thicken the dressing. Blend on high until well mixed and thickened. Keeps 3 to 4 weeks in refrigerator.
Dip: Combine ½ c of the clone mix with 2 c of sour cream. Mix well. Refrigerate for one hour to allow flavours to blend.
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