There is a private club in Richmond, my hometown, that
serves THE most divine Cobb salad. Whenever I eat there, I always determine
to try something new and different and then I think about how good that Cobb
salad is.
Consequently, I know little about anything else on the
menu. I can never resist this salad that is not exactly in the diet
department. Chock-full of blue cheese, hard-cooked eggs, avocado, bacon,
chicken and olive oil-based dressing, a Weight Watchers special, Cobb salad
is not. But yummy, it assuredly is.
I had never made a Cobb salad, guessing that I could
not come close to the wonders of the 2300 Club. Aha, I have!
This is, indeed, a meal salad. You don�t need
anything else but some crunchy French bread � or sour dough, as we used.
Well, now that I know I, too, can make Cobb salad, maybe I�ll try
something else at the 2300.
Cobb salad was developed at the famed Hollywood meeting
place, The Brown Derby, owned by Bob Cobb. Supposedly, he made the salad
from leftovers for himself at the restaurant but it caught on and, to this
day, is a favorite salad.
Cobb�s visitors to The Brown Derby were the stars of
the �40s and �50s. Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe were among his
frequenters.
We�ve also tried a one-dish pasta combination that
would be good when the delicious local tomatoes come in. Using fresh
tomatoes and ricotta cheese, an uncooked pasta sauce makes for easy, light
summer fare.
Cobb Salad
Ingredients:
4 c mixed greens such as romaine, Boston lettuce,
red leaf lettuce or watercress
6 or more oz. cooked chicken, cut into strips
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 small ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped 1⁄2 c
crumbled bleu cheese.
Dressing:
3 T red wine vinegar
Dash Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t sugar
1⁄2 t salt
1⁄4 cup olive oil
Directions: Place greens in salad bowl. Arrange chicken, bacon,
eggs, green onions, avocado, tomato and bleu cheese on top of greens. Prepare
dressing: Combine vinegar, pepper sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce,
sugar and salt in small bowl, shaker or measuring cup. Whisk in olive oil
until well blended in an emulsion. Just before serving, drizzle dressing
over the salad. Makes 6 servings.
Sweet and Spicy
Penne in Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
8 oz. penne pasta
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
1⁄2 c riccotta cheese
1 large tomato, quartered
1 t salt
Dash Tabasco sauce
1⁄4 c Calamata olives
2 T or more chopped fresh parsley
Directions: In large saucepot, heat salted water to boiling. Add
penne. Cook until tender. Drain. Meanwhile, remove casings from sausage. In
10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage until well-browned on
all sides, stirring to crumble sausage. With slotted spoon, remove sausage
to paper towels to drain.
In food processor or blender, blend ricotta cheese,
tomato, pepper sauce, and salt until smooth. In large bowl, toss cooked
penne with ricotta sauce, sausage, olives and chopped parsley. Mix well. Makes
4 servings.
