Secrets of the Tulalip Chefs

 

The award-winning chefs who design and oversee the restaurants at the Tulalip Resort Casino share their favorite recipes and tips with our readers. Although the dishes look and taste like gourmet treats, even household cooks can follow these instructions to put the wow factor back into family dinners.

 

Spring is finally here in the Northwest! The cherry blossoms and tulips have bloomed, the sun is shining and everyone is heading outdoors to enjoy hiking and biking. I thought I'd share a recipe for something "light" and satisfying.



The classic Cobb Salad has bacon, avocado, tomato, diced egg, chicken and bleu cheese. This Pacific Northwest variation replaces the avocado and chicken with smoked salmon and Dungeness crab. To take it up a notch, I added apple-smoked bacon, deviled quail eggs, Kalamata olives and Oregon bleu cheese for an elegant, yet simple dinner salad.



Wine suggestion: 2010 Barrage Cellars Riesling, Yakima, WA



Ingredients (one entrée-size salad):

3 ounces spring mix lettuce

3 ounces hard-smoked salmon, hand-broken chunks

2 hard boiled quail deviled eggs

1 ounce apple smoked bacon, julienne

2 ounces Dungeness crab meat

1 ounce Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

2 ounces Oregon Bleu cheese, crumbled

3 ounces vine-ripe tomato, julienne

1 ounce sweet onion, thinly sliced

2 ounces house ranch dressing



Procedure:

Cook bacon to desired doneness. Cool to room temperature and cut into long, thin strips; reserve.

You can substitute regular eggs for the quail eggs. Either way, make your favorite deviled egg recipe and fill the eggs; reserve. Cut the tomato into long strips; reserve.

For the onion straws, thinly slice the sweet onions. Lightly dust in flour with a pinch of salt. Carefully fry in a tall-sided pot with 3 inches of peanut or canola oil. Be sure the oil is hot before adding the onions. (Refrain from letting the oil smoke. If it starts smoking, turn the heat off immediately.) Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and let cool on paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

To assemble: place the lettuce in a large bowl and arrange the toppings in colorful strips as follows:

Bleu Cheese - white

Tomato - red

Kalamata - black

Crab - white

Onion - beige

Salmon - red

Egg - white

Bacon - brown

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