T
Terry Pogue
Guest
The Cobb is a classic Southern California chopped salad,
spontaneously invented one night 70 years ago by Bob Cobb, owner of
the famed (and now departed) Hollywood celebrity grazing spot, The
Brown Derby. The only protein in his original version came from
bacon, blue cheese and egg; but innovative L.A. chefs soon began to
embellish the salad with bite-sized chunks of leftover or freshly
grilled chicken breast.
Spago's Lobster Cobb Salad
Serves 4
Recipe By: Wolfgang Puck
Published in: Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class
Publish Date: The Brown Derby
Lobster:
3 stalk celery -- cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion -- quartered
8sprig fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
2lobsters -- each 1 1/2 lb.
Cobb Dressing:
1shallot -- finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1/3 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
1/2 poundssliced smoked bacon -- chopped
6hard-boiled eggs -- chilled
1/2 poundsharicots verts or other small fresh green
beans -- trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 ripe avocados
2 hearts romaine -- trimmed and cut crosswise into 2-inch slices
1 small head watercress -- stemmed and rinsed, leaves
separated into bite-sized clusters
1/2 pounds mixed yellow and red grape or cherry tomatoes halved
4oz. Roquefort cheese -- crumbled
Salt
First, if using live lobsters, prepare them. Bring a large pot of water to
a boil. Add the celery, onion, thyme, vinegar, and black pepper, and boil
for 10 minutes. Add the lobsters, cover, and simmer for 8-10 minutes,
until the shells are bright red and the lobster is cooked through.
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and water. With a large wire
skimmer, remove the lobsters from the water and immediately immerse in the
ice water to stop cooking. Shell the tail and the claws and cut the meat
into 1/2-inch chunks. Set aside in a covered container in the
refrigerator. Alternatively, buy a cooked lobster in the shell; shell the
meat, cut it up, and reserve.
Next, prepare the dressing. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together
the shallot, Dijon mustard, and vinegars. While whisking, slowly drizzle
in the oils to form a thick emulsion. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Cover and set aside.
Prepare the salad ingredients. In a large nonstick skillet over medium
heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Then, with a slotted
spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Set aside. Shell the eggs and
separate the whites from the yolks. Pass each separately through a medium
strainer or food mill and reserve in separate bowls. Bring a small
saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the haricots verts and boil for 1
minute. Remove from the water with a wire skimmer and immerse in ice
water. Drain well and set aside. Halve, pit, and peel the avocados. Cut
into 1/2-inch chunks. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set
aside. In a mixing bowl, add the romaine and watercress and season
lightly with salt and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of the dressing and toss.
Divide the greens among 4 large chilled serving plates. Arrange the
toppings in rows on top, starting at one side with the bacon, followed by
the haricots verts, egg yolk, lobster meat, egg white, tomato, and finally
the avocado. Sprinkle the cheese all over the top. Serve the remaining
dressing on the side. Alternatively, in a large salad bowl, toss the
greens with the other ingredients and enough dressing to coat, then mound
salad on large chilled serving plates.
Yield: 4 servings
(Chef Wolfgang Puck's TV series, "Wolfgang Puck's
Cooking Class," airs Sundays on the Food Network.
Recipe Notes
When I launched Spago back in 1982, it seemed like fun to make an
extra-upscale version featuring freshly cooked lobster meat (you can
also use precooked lobster from the market). I also lightened up the
salad a bit, using vinaigrette in place of the usual French, Thousand
Island, or Ranch dressings.
To this day, the Lobster Cobb is still our most popular lunchtime
salad -- so much so, in fact, that even when we try giving it a rest
from the menu our guests still insist on ordering it!
You can substitute chicken, grilled shrimp or salmon, or even steak
for the lobster. If you want something closer to the original, make
it with bacon alone; and, for a lighter version, leave out the cheese
and the egg yolk and substitute maybe some chopped ham or smoked
turkey breast for the bacon. Believe me, guests have requested every
variation imaginable -- and they're all delicious, especially when
you make the salad with the freshest springtime produce you can find.
Wolfgang Puck says:
"My favorite way to enjoy organic produce when
springtime comes around is in a big main-course salad.
I love to go down to one of our local farmers' markets
in the Los Angeles area, or to my dear friends at
Chino Farm near San Diego, and get an incredible
variety of crisp, fresh-tasting, beautiful organic
greens. You'll certainly find them at your own area
farmers' market, and even in some enterprising
supermarkets in smaller cities and towns."
Exported from A Cook's Books -- Recipe management for Macintosh
--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia Hill at [email protected].
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/
spontaneously invented one night 70 years ago by Bob Cobb, owner of
the famed (and now departed) Hollywood celebrity grazing spot, The
Brown Derby. The only protein in his original version came from
bacon, blue cheese and egg; but innovative L.A. chefs soon began to
embellish the salad with bite-sized chunks of leftover or freshly
grilled chicken breast.
Spago's Lobster Cobb Salad
Serves 4
Recipe By: Wolfgang Puck
Published in: Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class
Publish Date: The Brown Derby
Lobster:
3 stalk celery -- cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion -- quartered
8sprig fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
2lobsters -- each 1 1/2 lb.
Cobb Dressing:
1shallot -- finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1/3 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
1/2 poundssliced smoked bacon -- chopped
6hard-boiled eggs -- chilled
1/2 poundsharicots verts or other small fresh green
beans -- trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 ripe avocados
2 hearts romaine -- trimmed and cut crosswise into 2-inch slices
1 small head watercress -- stemmed and rinsed, leaves
separated into bite-sized clusters
1/2 pounds mixed yellow and red grape or cherry tomatoes halved
4oz. Roquefort cheese -- crumbled
Salt
First, if using live lobsters, prepare them. Bring a large pot of water to
a boil. Add the celery, onion, thyme, vinegar, and black pepper, and boil
for 10 minutes. Add the lobsters, cover, and simmer for 8-10 minutes,
until the shells are bright red and the lobster is cooked through.
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and water. With a large wire
skimmer, remove the lobsters from the water and immediately immerse in the
ice water to stop cooking. Shell the tail and the claws and cut the meat
into 1/2-inch chunks. Set aside in a covered container in the
refrigerator. Alternatively, buy a cooked lobster in the shell; shell the
meat, cut it up, and reserve.
Next, prepare the dressing. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together
the shallot, Dijon mustard, and vinegars. While whisking, slowly drizzle
in the oils to form a thick emulsion. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Cover and set aside.
Prepare the salad ingredients. In a large nonstick skillet over medium
heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Then, with a slotted
spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Set aside. Shell the eggs and
separate the whites from the yolks. Pass each separately through a medium
strainer or food mill and reserve in separate bowls. Bring a small
saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the haricots verts and boil for 1
minute. Remove from the water with a wire skimmer and immerse in ice
water. Drain well and set aside. Halve, pit, and peel the avocados. Cut
into 1/2-inch chunks. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set
aside. In a mixing bowl, add the romaine and watercress and season
lightly with salt and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of the dressing and toss.
Divide the greens among 4 large chilled serving plates. Arrange the
toppings in rows on top, starting at one side with the bacon, followed by
the haricots verts, egg yolk, lobster meat, egg white, tomato, and finally
the avocado. Sprinkle the cheese all over the top. Serve the remaining
dressing on the side. Alternatively, in a large salad bowl, toss the
greens with the other ingredients and enough dressing to coat, then mound
salad on large chilled serving plates.
Yield: 4 servings
(Chef Wolfgang Puck's TV series, "Wolfgang Puck's
Cooking Class," airs Sundays on the Food Network.
Recipe Notes
When I launched Spago back in 1982, it seemed like fun to make an
extra-upscale version featuring freshly cooked lobster meat (you can
also use precooked lobster from the market). I also lightened up the
salad a bit, using vinaigrette in place of the usual French, Thousand
Island, or Ranch dressings.
To this day, the Lobster Cobb is still our most popular lunchtime
salad -- so much so, in fact, that even when we try giving it a rest
from the menu our guests still insist on ordering it!
You can substitute chicken, grilled shrimp or salmon, or even steak
for the lobster. If you want something closer to the original, make
it with bacon alone; and, for a lighter version, leave out the cheese
and the egg yolk and substitute maybe some chopped ham or smoked
turkey breast for the bacon. Believe me, guests have requested every
variation imaginable -- and they're all delicious, especially when
you make the salad with the freshest springtime produce you can find.
Wolfgang Puck says:
"My favorite way to enjoy organic produce when
springtime comes around is in a big main-course salad.
I love to go down to one of our local farmers' markets
in the Los Angeles area, or to my dear friends at
Chino Farm near San Diego, and get an incredible
variety of crisp, fresh-tasting, beautiful organic
greens. You'll certainly find them at your own area
farmers' market, and even in some enterprising
supermarkets in smaller cities and towns."
Exported from A Cook's Books -- Recipe management for Macintosh
--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia Hill at [email protected].
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/