Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to:
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A Cobb Salad consists of chopped chicken or turkey, beef bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, tomato, cheese and lettuce. It is traditionally served with crumbled blue cheese and vinaigrette dressing.
The salad is one of the classics that have been one of the favourite among food lovers across the globe. The salad was first made by the owner of Brown Derby restaurant when one night he and his friend were prowling the restaurant kitchen for a mid-night snack.
He opened the refrigerator and pulled out what he found inside like a head of lettuce, an avocado, romaine lettuce, watercress, tomato, chicken breast, hardboiled egg, cheese and some vinaigrette dressing. He started by chopping all the ingredients and added some crispy bacon.
And next day one of the friends who was with Bob Cobb, the owner of the restaurant, the night before asked for the salad again and called it the Cobb Salad. Thus the salad was born and put on the restaurant menu and later on became popular. Cobb’s midnight invention became an overnight sensation with derby customers.
One can include all the ingredients or leave out few depending on one’s preference to make their own signature salad. You can either mix all the ingredients or arrange them nicely with salad dressing on the side.
Ingredients
Ice berg lettuce ½ head
Romaine lettuce ½ bunch
Watercress lettuce ½ bunch
Tomato 2 no
Chicken breast 2 no
Avocado 1 no
Eggs, hard boiled 3 no
Chives, chopped 2 tbsp
Roquefort cheese ½ “cube (optional)
Cheddar cheese 1/2 “cube
Beef bacon 3 tbsp
Vinaigrette dressing 2 tbsp
For dressing
Vinegar 3 tbsp
Sugar ½ tsp
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Garlic, chopped 1 tsp
Method
Wash and spin the salad leaves to remove any dust and make them dry. Chop them and keep aside.
Marinate the chicken breast with olive oil and salt and grill on a hot plate and keep aside.
In a salad bowl, arrange a bed of lettuce and place diced tomatoes, diced chicken, diced avocadoes, beef bacon, and diced hardboiled egg.
Add crumbled blue cheese (optional) or grate cheddar cheese on top.
In another bowl combine the ingredients required for dressing and blend well.
Place the prepared dressing on the side and serve cold.
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken is a spicy stir fried dish from the Sichuan province of China, which contains chicken as its main ingredient with cashew nut, vegetables and peppers. Sichuan peppers are an integral part of the dish, used to spice the dish with its unique and piquant taste.
Kung Pao chicken is not only popular in China but is popular in western world too because of its semi liquid saucy consistency and juicy chicken. The hot and numbing Sichuan pepper should not be confused with hot red chili peppers as Sichuan pepper isn’t a pepper at all. It’s an aromatic berry from the prickly ash tree. When they are dried the peppercorns turn a beautiful purple and they are used in many dishes.
Ingredients
Chicken breast 600 gm
Soy sauce 1 tbsp
Sesame oil 1 tbsp
Corn starch 3 tbsp
Red chili paste 2 tbsp
White vinegar 1 tsp
Brown sugar 2 tsp
Green onion, chopped 4 no
Garlic, chopped 5-6 cloves
Cashew nuts 100 gm
Method
Dice chicken breast into 1” dices.
Combine 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp oil and salt.
Add chicken pieces in the above marinade and refrigerate for 30-minutes.
Dissolve corn starch in 3-4 tbsp water and keep aside.
In a wok heat oil and sauté garlic and cashew nuts.
Add the marinated chicken and stir fry over medium high heat, tossing the chicken to cook evenly.
Once the chicken is almost cooked add the remaining ingredients like chili paste, vinegar, sugar and bring to boil.
Pour dissolved corn flour slowly and stirring at same time to avoid lumps till the desired saucy consistency.
Once the sauce thickens remove from flame and add chopped green onion and serve hot.
Cobb Salad
