Herb Crusted Hamburger with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Stilton Cheese

     Gourmet hamburgers have returned as a trendy food craze.  There are many restaurants in Las Vegas that offer gourmet hamburgers on their menus, but the focus only seems to be on the choice of meat and not the topping.  Hubert Keller's Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay is a good place to experience Las Vegas style gourmet burgers.  The Rossini burger there is decadent!  They even offer a chocolate burger and a cheesecake burger for dessert!
     Hubert Keller's Fleur is famous for the offering most expensive burger in Las Vegas.  Kobe beef, foi gras and black truffle is gives one hamburger offering a price that lists at about $35 on the menu.  A bottle of a fine vintage chateau liquor is what gives the burger a $5,000 sticker price.  In effect, that is cheating.  A drink is not part of an entree.
     Even the franchise chain burgers are famous in Las Vegas.  In-n-Out burgers is an old fashioned franchise that offers nothing but fresh food.  Freshly ground beef is the key to their success.  The french fries are cut from fresh potatoes too.  Fatburger is rated as the best burger stand in Los Angeles and Las Vegas year after year and they also cook all their food to order.  There are very few franchise burger stands that can even come close to the quality of In-n-Out or Fatburger.
     Tonight a gourmet burger sounded good.  Gourmet burgers of the late 1970's and 1980's focused on good beef with a fancy topping.  Today's recipe is made along those guidelines.  The burger in this recipe is crusted with French herbs.  The sun dried tomatoes and stilton cheese topping was a tasty choice for this herb crusted burger!  
  
     Sun Dried Tomatoes:
     Heat a small sauce pot over medium low heat.
     Add 2 cups of water.
     Add 5 or 6 sun dried tomato halves.
     Gently simmer the sun dried tomatoes, till they become soft and tender.
     Drain the water off of the tomatoes and return them to the sauce pot over.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of virgin olive oil.
     Season the sun dried tomatoes with sea salt and black pepper.
     Keep the sun dried tomatoes warm on a stove top.
   
     Herb Crusted Hamburger Patty:
     Fresh or dried herbs can be used for this recipe.  Herb crusted burger are best when they are grilled in a pan or on a ribbed cast iron griddle.  Cooking an herb crusted burger over an open flame will burn the herbs.  
     Lean ground beef for a hamburger is somewhere between 85% to 89% fat free.  If the ground beef is over 93% fat free, the burger will not be juicy.
     Place these herbs in a small mixing bowl:
     - 1/2 tablespoon of marjoram
     - 1 teaspoon of thyme
     - 1 teaspoon of tarragon
     - 1 tablespoon of herbs de provence
     - 1/2 tablespoon of basil
     - 1/2 tablespoon of oregano.
     Mix the herbs together.
     Set the herb mixture aside.
     Use a ring mold to shape 6 ounces of lean ground beef into a hamburger patty.
     Season the burger patty on both sides with sea salt, black pepper.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of garlic powder over the burger patty.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of cayenne pepper on the patty.
     Generously sprinkle the herb mixture on the burger patty.
     Gently press the herbs onto the surface of the burger.
     Coat both sides of the burger patty with the herb mixture.
     Refrigerate the burger patty for 5 minutes, so the herbs can impart their flavor.
    
     Herb Crusted Hamburger with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Stilton Cheese:
     Heat a saute pan or cast iron griddle over medium heat.
     Brush a hamburger roll with melted unsalted butter.
     Grill the burger roll, till it becomes toasted.
     Place the burger roll on a plate.  Leave the saute pan over medium heat.
     Place some mixed baby lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the bun.
     Place a few thin slices of onion on the lettuce.
     Set the "burger set up plate" aside.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of blended olive oil to the hot saute pan.
     Add 1 pat of unsalted butter.
     Place the herb crusted burger in the pan.
     Pan sear the burger on both sides.  Flip the burger often, so it cooks evenly and so the herbs do not scorch.  Cook the burger to the temperature of your preference.
     Place the softened sun dried tomatoes on top of the burger.
     Place a few thin slices of English stilton cheese on top of the sun dried tomatoes.
     Add a splash of water to the pan.  (About 1 1/2 ounces.)
     Cover the pan with a lid.
     Allow the steam in the pan to melt the stilton cheese.  (About 1 minute.)
     Use a spatula to place the herb crusted hamburger on the burger bun on the plate that is set up.
     Garnish the plate with Italian parsley sprigs and pickles.
     Persian pickled wild cucumber, roasted red pepper strips and Arabic scratched green olives were the garnish in the pictures.
  
     Stilton is like an aged sharp bleu cheese.  This is a satisfying delicious gourmet burger creation!  Yum!  ...  Shawna                      

Cacik

Turkish Cucumber Salad!  Or soup!
  
     Turkish cucumber mint salad is a refreshing summer appetizer.  Turkish cacik is similar to Grecian tzatziki.  Cacik is usually thinner and "soupier" than tzatziki.  Tsatziki is meant to be a sauce that clings.
     Cacik can be served thin like a soup.  Cacik can be served as a salad or as a dip for bread.  This recipe is very simple to make.  Cacik can have a chopped cucumber texture or it can be made like a refined smooth puree.
  
     Cacik:
     For this recipe, the seeds are left in the cucumber.  The watery seed section adds to the refreshing qualities of cacik.  A food processor can be used to puree the cucumber and mint, if a smooth texture is preferred.
     Place 2 cups of finely chopped peeled cucumber in a mixing bowl.
     Add 2 minced garlic cloves.
     Add enough goat milk yogurt to thoroughly coat and cover the chopped cucumber.
     Add 3 tablespoons of finely chopped mint.
     Add 2 to 3 pinches of sea salt.
     Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
     Stir the ingredients together.
     Add enough water thin the yogurt to a milk consistency.
     Place the cacik into a shallow serving dish.
     Garnish the rim of the dish with mixed baby lettuce leaves.
     Set the cacik dish on a serving platter.
     Heat a pita bread in an oven.
     Cut the pita bread into small triangles.
     Place the pita bread triangles next to the dish of cacik on the platter.
  
     Cacik has one of the best "I gotta have more of this!" kind of warm weather refreshing flavors!  Yum!  ...  Shawna    

Roulades of Flounder Duxelle with Scallion Vin Blanc Creme

     Flounder is a popular species of flat fish.  Flounder meat is very white and clean tasting like sole or fluke.  The fresher the flounder is, the more translucent the raw meat will be.  The top side of a flounder has thick filets and the bottom side of a flounder has thin small filets.  The small thin flounder filets are best for this recipe.
     In recent years, there was plenty of criticism about how fish mongers and chefs sold cheap flatfish filets like fluke or flounder, as a more expensive flatfish like dover sole.  This caused officials to monitor sales more than they used to.  Fish mongers used to sell just about any flatfish that was not dover sole, as lemon sole.
     Lemon sole comes from northern europe, so how does a Gulf of Mexico fishing boat unload a catch of lemon sole at a fishery located at a port in Tampa?  The answer is, lemon sole are not really sole.  They are another breed of flatfish.  Fishermen, fish mongers and chefs all take advantage of situations like this.  Lemon sole is cheap, because it really is not sole.  Since lemon sole is not sole, any flatfish was eligible to be called lemon sole.  Regulations have since stopped this practice and lemon sole is almost never seen on American menus any more.
     A different situation now presents a problem for flatfish fans.  Sustainability is a key issue.  Recently the chef of the century raved about how nice a fish dish cooked by one of his chefs looked.  My eyes are not like a deer's eyes focused on headlights.  The first thing that I noticed was that the flatfish that was raved about was not a sustainable species of fish.  In fact, it was on the endangered species list.  Nobody mentioned this fact, but I noticed and I lost a lot of respect for that chef.
     It just goes to show, paying attention to the list of what is currently rated as sustainable seafood does pay off.  A chef will never lose respect by selling sustainable fish.  Neither will a home cook!  Links for seafood sustainability are on the information page and the seafood page in this food site.  If people can read my recipes, they can also check the sustainability status.        

     Duxelle stuffing is a sauteed and reduced mixture of minced mushrooms, shallot and seasonal herbs.  Duxelle is cooked, till it becomes dry and pasty.  There are three major variations of duxelle stuffing.  This flounder recipe uses a duxelle that is meant for stuffed vegetables.  Duxelle for vegetables is nice with fish.  Bread crumbs, white wine and a dab of half glaze are part of this duxelle.  

     The mushrooms for a duxelle should be a mixture of wild strong flavored mushrooms and mild domestic or field mushrooms.  

     The cream sauce is very easy to make.  Bechamel sauce is the base of this sauce.  The light flavor of green onion in the white wine cream sauce compliments the flavor of the flounder and duxelle stuffing.
     The plate in the pictures looked good enough as it was.  Traditionally, going up the ladder of fine dining meant garnishes were of less important, but that has changed in the last two decades.  Now it seems like the presentation of an entree is more important than the basic quality of the entree.
     Usually a parsley sprig signifies that a chef claims the entree to be no more than a single star presentation.  You see many parsley sprigs on entrees in my blog  Complicated presentations have a way of scaring viewers away!  The fanciest recipes in this blog attract very few views, because not many people want to tackle a recipe that is difficult or time consuming.    

  
     Duxelle Seche:
     First a basic dry duxelle must be made (duxelle seche).  For a small amount of duxelle, it is not necessary to press the water out of the mushrooms.  
     You can use any combination of mushrooms, mushroom trimming and peelings that you prefer.  The mushroom mixture for the entree in the pictures was:  1 part chanterelle, 1 part cepe and 1 part portabella.  Dried mushrooms must be soaked overnight, till they become tender.  

     Heat a small saute pan over medium low heat.  

     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.  

     Add 1/2 tablespoon of finely minced shallot.  

     Add 1 cup of finely minced mushroom scraps and stems.  

     Saute the mushrooms and shallots. 

     Stir the mixture often, so it does not scorch.  

     When the moisture in the is nearly evaporated, add sea salt and white pepper.  

     Add 1 pinch of nutmeg.  

     Add 1 pinch of finely chopped parsley.  The duxelle is ready when nearly all the moisture has evaporated from the mushrooms and the mushrooms look dry.  

  
     Duxelle Pour Legumes Farci (Duxelle for stuffed vegetables):  

     If no demi glace is on hand, then just add a small splash of brown roux thickened rich beef stock or glace viande is okay.  Here is a link for these recipes:  Demi Glace.  The choice of herbs should always benefit the flavor of the item being stuffed.  

     Add 1 tablespoon of demi glace to the dry duxelle seche in the pan.
     Add 2 teaspoons of tomato puree.  

     Add 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic.  

     Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine.  

     Simmer till the mixture reduces by half.

     Add 1 tablespoon of fine plain French bread crumbs while stirring.

     Add 1 pinch of chervil.  

     Add 1 pinch of tarragon.

     Stir the duxelle as it thickens.  

     When the duxelle becomes moist, but not wet, set the duxelle aside to cool.

  
     Roulade of Flounder Duxelle:
     Place 2 thin small 3 ounce to 4 ounce filets of flounder on a cutting board with the side that the skin was attached to facing up.  

     Spread a thin even 3/16" layer of the duxelle stuffing over the flounder filets.  

     Gently roll the flounder and duxelle stuffing, so it becomes a round roulade (pinwheel) shape.  

     Brush a baking pan with melted unsalted butter.  

     Place the flounder roulades on the baking pan and brush the roulades with melted unsalted butter.  

     Season the roulades with sea salt and black pepper.  

     Bake the roulades in a 325º oven.  

     When the roulades become about halfway cooked, add a small splash water to the pan to prevent scorching.  

     The roulades are finished baking when the fish becomes fully cooked and the stuffing becomes hot.  

  
     Scallion Vin Blanc Creme:
     Bechamel does not always require a pincer of onion, clove and bay leaf.  The original Italian besciamella only required milk and roux.
     Heat a small sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.  

     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.  

     Add an equal amount of flour while stirring.  

     Stir till the roux becomes a white color.
     Add 1/2 cup of milk. 

     Add 1/4 cup of cream.  

     Add sea salt and white pepper.  

     Stir the sauce with a whisk as it thickens.  

     Add 1/3 cup of dry white wine.
     Bring the sauce to a gentle boil.
     Reduce the temperature to very low heat. 

     Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.  

     Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.  

     Add half of a very thin bias sliced green onion 3 minutes before serving.

  
     Roulades of Flounder Duxelle with Scallion Vin Blanc Creme:
     Place the flounder duxelle roulades on a plate.

     Place a potato and vegetables of your choice on the plate. 

     Spoon the Scallion Vin Blanc Creme over the roulades.  

     No garnish is necessary!
     A blanched broccoli spear, braised parsnips and buttered boiled red bliss potatoes are the vegetables in the pictures.

     

     The flavor of the duxelle rich.  The light flavor of the green onion white wine cream sauce accents the flavor of the duxelle and flounder.  Lemon would add too much bite to the sauce.  Lemon also changes the flavor of a duxelle in a negative way.  This is a nice refined flounder entree that is rewarding to make!  Yum!  ...  Shawna                                

Bucatini e Broccoli Siciliana

Complex flavors!
  
        Sicily looks like a small island on a map.  There are so many different mediterranean cuisine influences and and Italian cuisine variations in Sicily, that one would swear that Sicily was a large continent!  There are Arabic cuisine influences in many Sicilian recipes.  Agra dolce is a good example.  The sauce for this pasta has an agra dolce sweet sour flavor.
     The recipe for pasta with broccoli Siciliana varies.  Some recipes call for tomato and some do not.  Anchovies are required in some recipes.  Many broccoli Siciliana recipes call for saffron.   
     The base ingredients for pasta with broccoli Siciliana seem to be olive oil, garlic, onion, raisons, pine nuts and red wine vinegar.  The list of the rest of the ingredients for this recipe have many variations.
     Sicilian chefs create ingenious flavor combinations.  My first Italian apprenticeship was working for an award winning Sicilian chef.  One might say that the Sicilian chef taught flavor education!
  
     Raison Preparation:

     Place 3 tablespoons of  minced raisons in a small bowl.

     Add just enough water to cover the raisons.

     Let the raisons soak, till they become tender.

     Bread Crumb Topping:
     Many chefs have forgotten about this nice traditional touch, but then again, many modern chefs disregard anything that is traditional.  Bread crumbs were used as a topping for some Sicilian pastas many years ago.  A sprinkle of seasoned bread crumbs on a semi sweet pasta has nearly become a relic of the past.
     Heat a small saute pan over medium low heat.
     Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil.
     Add 1 minced garlic clove.
     Saute till the garlic becomes a golden color.
     Add just enough Italian fine ground plain bread crumbs to soak up the oil.  (About 4 or 5 tablespoons.)
     Stir constantly, the bread crumbs become lightly toasted.
     Place the garlic bread crumb topping aside on a dish and let it cool.
    
     Toasted Pine Nuts:
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 2 tablespoons of pine nuts.
     Shake the pan as the pine nuts toast.
     Only toast the pine nuts till they turn a light golden color.
     Set the pine nuts aside in a small bowl.
    
     Bucatini e Broccoli Siciliana:
     Cook 1 portion of bucatini pasta in boiling water over high heat, till it becomes cooked al dente.
     The sauce can be made while the pasta cooks!
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
     Add 2 minced garlic cloves.
     Add 3 tablespoons of minced onion.
     Saute till the onions and garlic become a light golden brown color.
     Add 2 chopped importen Italian anchovy filets.
     Add 1 cup of chopped broccoli florets.
     Saute the broccoli for about 1 minute.
     Add the reserved soaked raisons and the soaking liquid.
     Add 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar.
     Add 3/4 cup of water.
     Add  pinch of crushed red pepper.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 1 pinch of saffron or 3 pinches of safflower saffron.
     Add 2 pinches of chopped Italian parsley.
     Bring the liquid to a gentle boil.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Simmer and reduce, till only about 1/3 cup of liquid remains in the pan.
     Remove the pan from the heat.
     When the pasta is almost cooked al dente, place the pan with the sauce over medium low heat.
     Drain the water off of the pasta.
     Add the bucatini pasta to the sauce.
     Add 1 teaspoon of virgin olive oil.
     Toss the pasta with the sauce.
     Use a long tine carving fork to mound the the pasta on the plate.
     Pour any sauce that remains in the pan over the bucatini pasta.  (The pasta should not be flooded with sauce!  The sauce should only coat the pasta with flavor.)
     Sprinkle some freshly grated pecorino romano cheese over the pasta.
     Sprinkle some of the the toasted garlic bread crumbs over the pasta.
     Garnish the pasta with an Italian parsley sprig.
    
     This is a great tasting pasta!  Ciao Baby!  ...  Shawna    

Seared Club Steak with Sauce Albert and Stilton Cheese

     Club steak?  A club steak is the same thing as a strip steak or New York strip steak.  In the old days, fine dining restaurants called a strip sirloin steak by the name club steak.  Club steak sounded nice on a menu.  During the last 50 years, the club steak name has been replaced by NY strip.  One does have to admit, club steak does sound better than NY strip on a menu.
     Kansas City strip steaks are usually served with the bone attached and a NY strip is always boneless.  A Boston steak is a very thick strip steak that is cut in half through the middle.  One very thick NY strip can be turned into two Boston steaks.
     A good strip steak has a fair amount of fat marbling and it has a very rich flavor.  A USDA prime grade strip steak costs about two to three times as much as a USDA choice grade strip steak.  The difference in quality is easy to notice.  Choice grade strip steaks will be tender, but not quite as tasty as prime grade.
     Just forget about USDA select grade beef, because it tends to be very tough.  American greasy spoon diners, cheap chain restaurants and just about every second rate restaurant sells cheap, tough select grade strip steaks at a choice grade price.  Do not settle for select grade beef for a home cooked steak!
     Sauce Albert was named after an English Prince during the Victorian era.  Sauce Albert is a traditional English sauce that is commonly used to flavor cheap tough braised beef.  If this sauce can make cheap beef taste good, then is also can be nice with higher grade beef.  The techniques used to make Sauce Albert are French in origin.
     Stilton cheese is a nice accompaniment for beef.  English Stilton has a very rich sharp aged bleu cheese kind of flavor.
     I posted two ways to make white consomme in this recipe.  Classic white consomme is a white veal stock that is clarified.  Dried bouillon had not yet been invented when the original Sauce Albert recipe was written.  Adding modern dried bouillon saves time and it is fine for making sauce Albert at home.
    
     White Stock:

     Place 1 pound of veal, beef and chicken bones and meat scraps in a sauce pot.

     Add 1/2 cup of chopped celery.

     Add 1/2 cup of chopped onion. that is studded with 2 cloves.

     Add 1/4 cup of chopped leek.

     Add 1/3 cup of chopped parsnip.

     Add 1 chopped shallot.

     Add enough water to cover the ingredients with 2" of extra water.  A yield of 1/2 gallon is needed.

     Place the pot over low heat.

     Simmer for 2 hours.

     Skim any impurities and grease off of the stock as it simmers.

     Pour the white stock through a fine mesh strainer into a second sauce pot.

     Place the pot over low heat.

     Skim off any grease or impurities.

     Simmer and reduce the stock, till 1 quart remains.

     Whisk 3 egg whites with 1 ounce of water.

     Slowly stream the egg white into the stock while gently stirring the stock from the bottom up.

     Simmer for 1 minute.

     Pour the white stock through a fine mesh strainer into a container and set it aside.

     The white stock can be refrigerated for 7 days or frozen in portions.

     White Consomme:
     Ground beef is not an option for clarifying white consomme.  Clarifying white stock a second time with egg whites will produce a very clear broth.  If the original white stock turned out to be very clear, then use it as consomme!
     Skim the fat off of the white stock as it cools.
     Carefully pour the white stock into a second pot and leave all the sediments on the bottom of the first pot.
     Heat the stock over medium low heat.
     Stream 3 egg whites into the hot broth.
     The egg whites will clarify the bouillon.
     Strain the bouillon through a fine mesh strainer that is lined with a paper filter.
     The white consomme should be clear in color and it should have a rich flavor.
    
     Modern White Consomme:
     For a less time consuming white consomme use this recipe! 
     Place 1/8 teaspoon of dried beef bouillon in a sauce pot.
     Add 1/8 teaspoon of dried chicken bouillon.
     Add 1/8 teaspoon of light vegetable bouillon.  (no tomato)
     Add 2 cups of water.
     Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat.
     Wait till the dried bouillons dissolves.
     Add 1 egg white.
     Strain the bouillon through a fine mesh strainer into a container.
     The consomme should be almost clear in color.
     
     Butter Sauce:
     French Sauce au Beurre is rarely used in modern cuisine.  This is not a butter emulsion sauce.  Cream and egg yolk that is used to tighten a sauce is called a liaison. 
     Heat a small sauce pot over medium low heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add an equal amount of flour while stirring with a whisk.
     When the butter becomes thoroughly combined with the flour and the roux has a white color, add 1 cup of hot water while whisking.
     Reduce the temperature to very low heat.
     Stir occasionally till the sauce thickens to a thin consistency.
     Add 1 pinch of sea salt.
     Place 1 egg yolk into a small bowl.
     Add 3 tablespoons of cream.
     Stir the mixture till it is blended.
     Add the mixture to the warm sauce in the sauce pot.
     Stir till the egg yolks cause the sauce to become tightened.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
     Add in 4 pats of unsalted butter, while whisking.
     Pour the butter sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a small ceramic bowl.
     Keep the butter sauce warm on a stove top.
    
     Sauce Albert:
     Place 1 cup of the white consomme in a sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of plain finely grated horseradish.
     Gently boil the sauce, till it reduces to 1/2 cup in volume.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Add 1/2 cup of the butter sauce while stirring.
     Add 1/2 cup of cream.
     Add 1 tablespoon of fine bread crumbs.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce, while stirring occasionally, till it becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.
     Reduce the temperature to very low heat.
     Add 1 egg yolk, while whisking, to tighten the sauce to a medium sauce consistency.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of dijon mustard.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Pour the sauce Albert through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl.
     Keep the sauce Albert warm bain marie on a stove top.
     Stir occasionally.
    
     Seared Club Steak:
     Season an 8 to 10 ounce untrimmed sirloin strip steak with sea salt and black pepper.
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium high heat.
     Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add the strip steak.
     Sear the steak on both sides, till it becomes lightly browned and cooked to your desired temperature.  (Rare to medium is best for this recipe.)
     Set the steak on a wire screen roasting rack and let it rest for 1 minute.
     Trim the excess fat and gristle off of the steak.
     Cut the steak into thin bias slices.
    
     Seared Club Steak with Sauce Albert and Stilton Cheese:
     Fan the sliced club steak neatly on a plate.
     Place 2 thin petite wedges of stilton cheese on the plate next to the sliced club steak.
     Spoon the sauce Albert over the back edge of the sliced seared club steak.
     Garnish the sauce Albert with a couple of Italian parsley leaves.
     Serve with vegetables of your choice or the accompaniments in the next step.

     Optional Modern English Vegetables:
     Place small mound of mixed baby lettuce on the plate.

     Sprinkle a few drops of white truffle oil and red wine vinegar on the lettuce.

     Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and black pepper on the lettuce.

     Overlap 3 tomato slices on the plate.

     Sprinkle a little bit of chopped sweet gherkin pickle over the tomato slices.

     Place 4 toast points that were grilled with butter on the plate.

    
     A very tasty plate of Classic English high cuisine with light modern accompaniments!  Sauce Albert has such a mellow refined horseradish flavor and a unique texture.  Sauce Albert is perfect for this rich tasting seared club steak.  Slicing a steak and fanning it on a plate is unique to high cuisine.
     Stilton cheese is a nice rich accompanying flavor for the steak.  The stilton can be eaten with the steak or the accompaniments.  Sauce Albert takes some time and skill to make, but it is well worth the effort!  This is a nice refined English entree!  Yum!  ...  Shawna    

English Style Cobb Salad with Stilton Cheese and Curry Spice Chicken

A nice Cobb Salad version with plenty of flavor!

    
      I gave some thought to making a Cobb Salad for a few days last week.  The Cobb Salad was created in the 1930's at the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood California.
     My step grandfather managed several great Mexican restaurants in the Los Angeles area.  I used to tag along with my step grandad when he was driving around Los Angeles on one of his restaurant management missions.  When we drove by the Brown Derby, I used to point at the Brown Derby and say "Lets go eat there!"  My step grandfather always comically replied "What do you want to do?  Eat a Cobb Salad with the snooty rich folks or something?"  I sure knew what snooty folks were, but I always ended up wondering what he meant by a Cobb Salad.
     The original Brown Derby in Hollywood was an easy landmark restaurant to identify.  The shape of the building looked like a gigantic brown derby hat!  The Brown Derby became a Los Angeles franchise restaurant and soon there were Brown Derby restaurants nationwide.  The Cobb Salad was the Brown Derby's signature salad.
     There are many recipes for classic Cobb Salads on the internet already.  There are many modified Cobb Salad recipes.  It seems like the most recent modified Cobb Salad recipes were created several years ago, when fried chicken was a popular salad topping.  I worked in a restaurant about 20 years ago that had diced fried chicken breast on a menu salad.
   
     The Original Cobb Salad:
     The original Cobb Salad lettuce mixture was iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, watercress and sliced chives.  Crumbled Maytag bleu cheese is part of the original Cobb Salad.  The original Cobb Salad was made with leftover broiled chicken or boiled chicken that was diced.  Chopped acon, boiled egg, tomato and avocado are the rest of of the toppings.  A classic Cobb Salad can be presented like a chef's salad, with the toppings placed from the center of the salad out to the rim of the plate.  The best Cobb salad presentation is rows of each topping across the salad.  French salad dressing was the original cob salad dressing.  French dressing may sound odd, but back the 1930's, red wine vinaegrette was often called French dressing.  The Brown Derby called red wine vinaegrette by the name French dressing for many years.

     English Style Cobb Salad Version:
     For today's English version of a Cobb Salad, crumbled English stilton cheese was the best choice.  Stilton cheese has deep rich aged bleu cheese flavor.  Aged English stilton is much sharper than Danish bleu cheese or French roquefort.  Stilton is one of the world's most highly regarded cheeses.

     Seared curry spice chicken was used.  British folks like Indian curry, so curry spiced chicken fits nicely with the theme of this Cobb Salad version.  Smoked bacon adds a nice touch.  The lettuce mixture is mixed baby greens, sliced chives and watercress.

   
     Stilton Cheese: 
     The history of stilton cheese is well worth reading.  When stilton cheese first came about in the early 1700's, the dining habits of cheese connoisseurs were quite different than in modern times.  Stilton cheese in the 1700's was served with a thick layer of the mites and insect larvae that fell from the cheese onto the serving plate.  A spoon was set on the plate, so the mites and larvae could be eaten along with the cheese.  Serving fine cheese in this manner was common practice in europe several hundred years ago.
     With modern health regulations, stilton is now served clean with no mites or larvae.  Stilton cheese has a natural dried rind that is easy to cut through.  Stilton does not crumble easily, unless it is thinly sliced.
   
     Red Wine Vinaegrette: 

     Place 1 1/2  tablespoons of red wine vinegar in a mixing bowl.

     Add 1/2 teaspoon of of dijon mustard.

     Add 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic.

     Add 1/4 teaspoon of minced shallot.

     Add sea salt and black pepper.

     Add a small pinch each of:

     - tarragon

     - basil

     - thyme

     - chervil

     Slowly stream of 1/4 cup of olive oil into the mixture, while gently whisking, to create a semi emulsified vinaegrette.

     Add 1 teaspoon of virgin olive oil while stirring.

     Allow the vinaegrette to stand for 5 minutes, so the flavors meld. 

    
     Smoked Bacon:
     Heat a griddle or saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Grill 3 slices of smoked bacon, till they become crispy.
     Place the crisp bacon on a cutting board.
     Chop the bacon into small bits.
     Set the smoked bacon bits aside.
    
     Curry Spice Chicken:
     Place 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small mixing bowl.
     Add 3 pinches of garam masala.
     Add 2 pinches of turmeric.
     Add 1 teaspoon of ginger paste.
     Add 1 minced garlic clove.
     Add sea salt.
     Add 1 pinch of cayenne pepper.
     Stir the ingredients together.
     Trim the fat and skin off of an 8 ounce chicken breast.
     Place the chicken breast in the curry oil.
     Allow the chicken to marinate for 10 minutes.
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
     Place the curry spice chicken breast in the hot pan.
     Saute the chicken on both sides, till it becomes fully cooked.  Flip the chicken often, so it cooks evenly.
     Set the chicken aside and let it cool.
     Dice the curry spice chicken breast into small bite size pieces.

     English Style Cobb Salad with Stilton Cheese and Curry Spice Chicken:
     Place 2 1/2 cups of mixed baby lettuce into a mixing bowl.
     Add 1 cup of watercress.
     Add 3 tablespoons of 3/8" long slices of fresh chives.
     Toss the lettuce mixture.
     Mound the lettuce mixture on an oval shaped serving platter.
     Arrange rows of these ingredients across the salad in any order that you prefer:
     - chopped hard boiled egg
     - crumbled English stilton cheese
     - chopped tomato
     - smoked bacon bits
     - diced avocado
     - diced curry spice chicken
     Place the red wine vinaegrette in a small ramekin and serve it on the side.
   
      A good Cobb Salad has a nice flavor combination.  This English style Cobb Salad has an interesting tasty flavor combination.  Yum!  ...  Shawna