Outdoor Deck Dinner!

Aptly celebrating an 80 degree day in early summer in Seattle includes a BBQ, wine, and an outdoor table. Luckily between Kate, Aaron and I, we had all three…plus a beautifully tended organic garden full of fresh herbs and lettuces as well as some bare naked pork chops just begging to be grilled! After wrangling the grill from Kate’s neighbor’s house and opening a bottle of red and a bottle of white, we set to whipping up a marinade for the pork and a dressing for the salad. Seeing as this was an impromptu event (it’s always a surprise when you get gorgeous evening in the 70s in Seattle) we raided the pantry to see what we could find. With celery, red onion, green onions, S&P, olive oil, tarragon vinegar, balsamic vinegar, garlic, sugar, and some fresh rosemary and oregano from the garden we nailed it. There was a half empty bottle of some sort of balsamic vinaigrette that we chose to toss the pork chops in, as well as some garlic, green onions, S&P, and celery (what the heck!) while the coals heated up.

In to our second round of wine Kate picked some amazing red leaf, green leaf, and butter lettuce, Aaron manned the BBQ, and I mixed up a dressing with the rest of the ingredients we’d pulled out. The result? A perfect pork chop, a divine salad, three empty bottles of wine, and a gorgeous sunset enjoyed on the deck. The coups de grace? A last minute batch of home-made chocolate chip cookies (I blame the wine for the inspiration)!

I really want to share the dressing recipe; however, as I’d been enjoying the weather with the wine, I don’t remember exactly what we did, and I have no idea what the portions were of each ingredient…but I can guess it went something like this

The Most Amazing Summer Salad Dressing When the Lettuce Comes From the Garden:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the extra-er the better!)
Tarragon Vinegar (or any other infused vinegar you think sounds fresh and tasty)
Balsamic Vinegar
Sugar
Diced green onion
Fresh Oregano, chopped
Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Minced garlic
S&P

In a small bowl mix olive oil and vinegars and sugar until sugar is entirely dissolved, add about a stalk or so of green onion, a few sprigs of oregano and one sprig of rosemary, about a teaspoon or so of garlic (I always go for the “or so” amount and tend to err on the side of doubling the amount of garlic called for, so I am sure I used a lot more than that). Add plenty of salt an pepper to taste.
Note: I am pretty sure I just kept adding more of whatever it tasted like it needed, so feel free to do many taste tests along the way.