Cool Composed Concoction: Cobb Salad with Grilled Onion Blue Cheese Dressing

So ... what’s the weather like in your area? Are you having the most bizarre winter, too? Poor Kentucky ... what a mess it is there. I talked with my brother in law in North Carolina this morning, and he reported that the forecast predicted snow for today as well as 70 degrees this weekend. Jumping back to my neck of the woods, a typical Pacific Northwest Oregon February day should mean monotonous gray skies, seemingly endless drizzle, and a steady temperature of 42 degrees. Wet grass, wet pavement, wet vehicles, wet, wet, wet. However, in the bizarre land of winter 2009, today’s sunrise proclaimed a crisp 28 degrees with frosty frozen grass and wind shields. By 3:00 this afternoon, it was SUNNY and the mercury shouted out 60 degrees! I don’t know what parallel universe I’ve landed in, but I’m happy to be here.

The change in weather dictated a change in lunch plans. To compliment the sun shining through my windows, a lovely hearty salad seemed in order. It’s been eons since I crunched on that glorious cool, composed concoction called Cobb Salad, and so of course that’s what graced my lunch plate today. So without further ado, here’s today’s recipe.

Cobb Salad

Lettuce – about 6 cups worth (use what you like: Bibb, butter, iceberg, romaine)
5 strips bacon – cooked crisp and crumbled
Diced tomatoes – I used about ½ cup of the little grape ones cut in half
½ cup crumbled blue cheese – I used an Oregon cheese
1 cup cooked diced chicken breast – I used left over grilled chicken
3 hard boiled eggs – chopped
1 avocado – diced

Makes 4 servings. In an oversized salad bowl, place all the lettuce. In a decorative fashion, line up the remaining ingredients so they appear in long strips on top of the lettuce. Serve with your favorite dressing, vinaigrette, or oil and vinegar. I served it with the following dressing that just about made me swoon. Yeah. It’s that good. It’s adapted from a Michael Chiarello recipe. Thank you, Michael. My taste buds love you.

Grilled Onion Blue Cheese Dressing

½ a large sweet onion, cut into ½ inch thick circles (keep together)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 cup mayo
½ cup sour cream
½ cup buttermilk (I used more)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (like Tabasco. I used Tapatio.
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup blue cheese – (I didn’t want to add more because there is already blue cheese in the salad.)

Preheat a grill (you could do this on a stove top grill pan, too). Season the onion slices with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and Mont. Steak Seasoning. Grill over med high heat 5 minutes. Carefully flip and grill other side another 5 minutes.Remove and let cool. When cool, cut into medium sized dice. While the onions are grilling and cooling, prepare the rest of the dressing. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Stir in the diced grilled onions. Done. It makes a ton of dressing; I just used about 2 generous tablespoons on my serving.Just look at how pretty this salad is! This is a main dish concoction and is very, very filling.I love that large avocado chunk. The smoky crunch of the bacon was lovely, and the chicken tasted superb with the blue cheese. The creaminess of the avocado was a nice contrast to the crisp lettuce, and, well, you know how I feel about eggs. The bright red tomatoes brought both color and flavor to the party. Every bite just expounded flavor. I love this salad. I like it with oil and vinegar as well as with a more traditional dressing. Today, I’m glad I went with a dressing. Hands down, the star of the show was this salad dressing. I’ve always made my own blue cheese dressing, however, adding the grilled onions really ramped this puppy up several notches. I will forever and always add grilled onions to my blue cheese dressing. YUM. Oh, and like most of the recipes at It's All Gouda, this is gluten free all the way, baby!

Eggcellent Egg Salad Sammies with Tomato Orange Soup!

Ah, eggs. How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Fried, scrambled, boiled, poached, baked, stuffed, and .... made into salad. Egg salad, that is. Plain old, no frills, nummy-yummy egg salad.

Do you like egg salad? There are a multitude of ways to make this creamy goodness. Besides mayo, you could add any combo of onions, capers, olives, celery, mustard, cheese, bacon, dill, vinegar, salt and pepper, white pepper, peppers, hot peppers, pimentos, or even pickles. Man, that’s a lot of ‘P’s”! Me? Well, surprisingly I prefer it on the plain side. Just egg and mayo and a smidgeon of season salt. Plus, there are subtle differences on how to actually chop the eggs. You could mince them with a knife, slice with a gadget slicer, mash with a fork, or pulse in a food processor, to name just a few. Let’s address, too, the vast array of ways to serve the eggsellent spread. There’s the obvious choice to spread it on bread or toast, but there’s also folks who like to stuff tomatoes with it or serve it alongside crackers. To make me really dreamy eyed, serve the egg salad unadorned on toast (preferably rye). Throw in a bowl of tomato orange soup and I’m a happy gal. *Insert blissful expression here*

From what I can tell, there are no true regional or cultural recipes for egg salad. Mostly, folks just kind of make it the way their mothers’ did, occasionally trying something new, but reverting back to what their roots crave. That’s how it is with me. Egg salad in my house is simple fare, nothing fancy, but really tasty nonetheless. I don't dislike the other additions, rather I simply prefer it just like this. Let’s make Eggcellent Egg Salad, shall we?

Ingredients:
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled*
2 heaping Tablespoons good quality mayo
Smidge of Seasoned Salt
Rye Bread – toasted

In a medium sized bowl, chop the eggs into a very fine dice.I usually rough chop/slice it with a knife,and then mash it with the tines of a fork. I’ve used a grated potato masher, and that works well, too. I just don’t like to wash it, so I stick with a fork! Stir in the mayo.
Fold in the season salt. Serve immediately or chill in the fridge until cold. Tastes great both ways. Spread egg salad on rye toast slices. It’s your choice as to how thick you want to layer on the egg salad. I prefer a medium thickness, and naked. Meaning, ahem, lettuce or tomato can sit this one out. Egg salad sandwiches go great with fruit, soup, or even chips. Just look at how creamy this is!Not goopy, not dry, just right! I served mine with a yummy, tangy tomato orange soup.YUM!Now that we have our sandwich, let’s make some soup. I make soup every week, cuz, well, I’m souper girl. We souper girls love to have soup for lunch. This tomato orange soup is THE BEST tomato soup EVER! Well, um, at least I thought it was pretty darn tasty. Even with the heavy cream, it’s very light and that citrus flavor really brightens it up. It’s ridiculously easy to make. Seriously. It takes less than 10 minutes, but tastes like something from a fancy café. I found this recipe on the internet. As fate would have it, it’s from Elephant’s Deli in Portland. You won’t believe how good this is!

4 tablespoons butter
½ onion diced fine
2 cans diced tomatoes
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup fresh orange juice (I used Tropicana)
½ cup heavy cream

In a sauce pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced onions, and cook over medium heat until onion is soft but NOT brown. Lower heat if necessary to just soften them. I stirred the onions often, and they were soft in about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add baking soda, thyme and pepper. Puree the soup with an immersion blender, or ladle into a food processor or traditional blender. I left a bit of texture in mine. Add the orange juice. Stir in the heavy cream just before serving.Mmmmm. See how pretty it is with just a tad of texture. Sample a bite and make yummy noises! Oh, and the soup is gluten free, all the way, baby!

*How To Make Hard Boiled Eggs

4-6 eggs (older eggs are easier to peel, but gee whiz, how often do you have old eggs?)
Large pot
Lid
½ teaspoon salt (if desired)

Place eggs in large pot and cover with COLD water. Water should be about 1 ½ inches above the eggs. Add salt if desired. Bring to a gentle boil, cover with lid, and remove from burner. Let sit for 12 minutes. Drain immediately, and cover with ice water for at least 10 minutes. Crack shells and peel. If your shells are really stubborn, peel them in a bowl of cool water. Watch your times closely so your yolks will stay a lovely yellow shade!

How do you like your egg salad? Do you like to add any of the items listed above to your mixture of eggy goodness? What about tomato soup? Do you wanna try some tom orange soup and join me in a blissful sigh?