the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Back Pocket Balsamic Vinaigrette

One of my most beloved mentors taught my family many a worthy lesson that we’ve incorporated into our routine over the years. One of his favorites lessons had to do with hospitality, both providing and receiving gestures of hospitality, and he taught it using what he called his back pocket pancake recipe.

Without going into the long winded story that Ed would inevitably tell whenever the topic came up, his principle points were that hospitality is an art that takes repetition and practice to do well, and that when a guest in someones home, you needed to graciously accept the gift of hospitality extended you and offer a kind, and thankful, gesture in return.

One of the ways he did so was via what he called his back pocket pancake recipe; despite possessing a smart phone with more computing power than on the Apollo spacecraft, he always carried in his wallet a dog-eared and well-worn piece of paper upon which he’d scrawled the recipe for a delicious buttermilk pancake recipe. He used to boast that he’d pulled the recipe out and made pancakes for his various hosts on five different continents over the years.

I still carry an image of his original recipe on my phone, and have taken to carrying a set of “back pocket” recipes with me where ever I travel, though I favor salad dressing recipes instead of buttermilk pancakes.

My reasoning is pretty damned simple; most people don’t take the time to stir together simple yet tasty – and healthy – salad dressings at home, and these salad dressings can pull double duty as marinades and / or slathers for grilled meats and vegetables.

The two back pocket dressing recipes I reach for most often are this very Back Pocket Balsamic Vinaigrette and probably our house favorite, this nifty Chile Lime Vinaigrette.

This balsamic dressing recipe is a cinch to whisk or shake together, uses ingredients almost everyone has in the pantry and fridge, and tastes like a million bucks. A couple of nights ago we were pressed for time one evening, and a quick recipe of this dressing made a simple baby spinach and bacon salad feel (and taste) like a date night meal fit for a king.

Three quick thoughts on ingredients – one, use a good quality, aged balsamic (avoiding ones with added sweeteners, caramel color additives, etc); aged balsamic vinegars develop sweetness naturally and you might not feel the need to add honey (or the sweetener of your choice) at all – we usually don’t.

Two, recognizing that the classic formula for a vinaigrette used to be four parts oil to one part vinegar, we prefer this recipe closer to a 2:1 ratio; experiment yourself and adjust. And three, play around with various mustards too – we love this recipe with a spicy, rustic, Creole-style mustard (like Zatarains).

By the way, we prefer the texture and viscosity of the dressing when it’s shaken or whisked together, using a blender to combine makes for a bit “stiffer” dressing.

1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
2-3 tsp dijon or whole grain mustard
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp good sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (fine)
1/2 to 3/4 cup good EVOO

Optional
1/2 tsp ground dried thyme
1 small shallot, minced
2 tbsp honey

Combine the vinegar, mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the oil until the dressing is fully emulsified and smooth; you can combine in a blender – you’ll find it’s a little thicker (we prefer the hand-whisked consistency).

Another nifty trick for mixing this one is simply to combine all the ingredients in a small jar with a tight fitting lid and then shake, shake, shake until well combined.

Cheers.