Friday, November 12, 2010

Brown Derby Salad

Is it called an earworm if you get an idea for something you absolutely have to eat from somebody's blog? A mouthworm?
Well, Amy cobbled together a Cobb salad that looked spectacular, and she reasoned that it was seasonal. Why not? Lettuce loves cool weather. Had to have it.
I didn't follow her recipe precisely. Just got the idea, and got brave. With ingredients already on hand.
Interestingly, there's no chicken in Amy's version. Nor was there chicken chez moi. The little kick of meat came from bacon crumbles.
I had to leave out a few things, but subbed in slivers of hard-cooked egg. I will say the blue cheese is imperative. I forgot we had avocados, and, so, no avocados.
I chose square dishes for elegant plating, and lined my ingredients in rectilinear rows. It was pretty cute.
Then I went back and looked at Amy's photo. Damn. What a great photo, first of all. And: her rows of ingredients are compact, tight, beautiful.
Cranky wants to make this again, soon. He doesn't even want to make rows; he's just gonna toss it all together.
A lovely vinaigrette is essential; please make your own.

11 comments:

Kailyn said...

I use the mobile version of Reader on my phone while at work so I get a list of titles that I can then choose to expand. It's become kind of a game -- guess the subject of the post before seeing the whole post. This was an easy one as a Californian.

I go back and forth on the dressing thing though. Sometimes it's blue cheese crumbles with vinaigrette while at other times I go with blue cheese dressing. And yes, I'm lazy on the latter and use Marie's because it's thick and chunky. This week I noticed they have a new flavor -- blue cheese with bacon. Hmmm.

cookiecrumb said...

Kailyn: Yay! I was a little worried about the title. (Man, I love being a Californian.)
Sounds like Marie's blue cheese and bacon is Cobb Salad Waiting To Happen!

Ms Brown Mouse said...

I'm with Cranky, plating up takes too damn long!

Chilebrown said...

Earworm sounds like a polite term for plagiarism. Oh I am bitter because I wanted to use a cartoon for MMG just for fun. I asked for permission and they wanted 60 dollars for 90 days.

How are you Dreds coming on?. Oh by the by, Rodeo does not allow Rastas unless you have a card.

Zoomie said...

Splendid! I might even want one of those, tho' I'm not a huge salad fan, especially in cold months. Love the combinations you came up with. And so pretty.

cookiecrumb said...

Mouse: But it can be so pretty. I didn't execute mine well, though, so I'm with Cranky too.

Chilebrown: Do they allow tattoos?

Zoomie: We had a couple of delightfully warm days, and this was just perfect.

Juanita said...

Nice mix of crunch and soft. My kinda salad!

Greg said...

I like it in rows. Neat and orderly :)

cookiecrumb said...

Juanita: You'd have loved it more with avocado. And in summer, tomato. It's old fashioned, but I'm ready for the retro.

Greg: I'm gonna make the rows thicker (with more ingredients) next time. Or use smaller plates! :D

Amy Sherman said...

So glad my salad was the inspiration for yours! I originally took a photo at night and it was beyond ugly. I think this is probably one of the best recipes for kitchen improv.

cookiecrumb said...

Hi Amy: I'm glad you found this. Yeah, your recipe is a good inspiration for ad libbing, but I'd never really have thought of making this salad at all if not for your post.
It simply is as good as you say.