by E Mooneyhan
Based on the description of the dressing, I have created what I believe is a reasonable facsimilie.
HITCHING POST SALAD DRESSING
½ cup garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil
½ cup corn or vegetable oil
½ cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons tomato sauce
2 packages “Good Seasons” Italian Dressing mix*
To make the garlic infused oil, crush one clove of garlic and place it in a small bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Allow it to steep for at least one week before using.
Wisk together the water and tomato sauce.
Combine the vinegar, water/tomato sauce, sugar and the “Good Seasons” Italian Dressing mix. Shake well. Add the olive and vegetable oils. Shake well again. Refrigerate unused portion.
While the only reference in the cookbook is for its use on the mixed green salad, as the quote on the previous page indicates, the dressing would have many uses.
*Good Seasons is a registered trademark of Kraft Foods.
HITCHING POST MINT SYRUP
Again, quoting from the Gourmet magazine article, “Mint syrup is a medium-thick sauce, quite sweet with a tart undertone. It's of moss-green color, made so by the addition of a tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint to each jar. Three ingredients only—vinegar, sugar, herb. Use it with lamb, pork, or veal, as a fine sweetener for tea, hot or cold. Drizzle it over fruit cups and fruit salads.”
As syrups are easy to make, I can just about be 100% certain that this is the recipe for the “Hitching Post Mint Syrup”
6 ounces vinegar
6 ounces sugar
1 tablespoon mint, chopped fine
Use a Pyrex Visions saucepan. This is a ceramic pan designed for use on the stovetop. Using other Pyrex products on the stovetop could result in shattering of the product.
Mix the vinegar and sugar and place the saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon to keep the sugar from caramelizing. Cook until reduced by half. Place chopped mint leaves in a jar and pour the syrup over the mint. Stir to release the mint oils into the syrup. Store in the refrigerator.
Do not use a metal pan or metal spoon. Vinegar is an acid, and while it likely would not leach too much of the metal into the syrup, any would alter the taste of syrup.
The Aiken Standard newspaper of May 6, 1949, reported the following about Hitching Post Foods, “In our foods column today we would like to pay tribute to the phenomenal success of Hitching Post Food, Inc., and to Mrs. C. Wesley Frame, president, who tasted the dressing used at the Hitching Post Inn here and realized that she had found an exotic dressing. Mrs. Frame had the forethought to negotiate for the right to manufacture and market the unusual blend of imported olive oil, sugar, tomatores, vinegar, vegetable oil, and imported herbs and spices, thereby beginning a venture nearly two years ago that has swung into a gigantic business, carrying Hitching Post foods to the shelves of the hotter stores and to the menus of, the country's leading restaurants and hotels. The purpose of the organization is an entirely new departure in the food field. Pre-seasoned food that doesn't even need the addition of salt is being produced from old southern recipes and packaged in table-worthy containers.”
Sadly, both Hitching Post Foods and the Hitching Post Inn are no longer with us.
