no tea after 12

Here's what I love in my Cobb Salad: 

Leafs - the only thing I like to eat Iceberg lettuce on is tacos, so I go for something completely different here. I like Little Gem lettuce as its shape and size are perfect for this, its also gives a nice mix of sweet leaf alongside the crunch of the inner stem. If you couldn't get Little Gem, I would go for Cos lettuce. Controversial I know, but I spoke to Caesar, and he doesn't mind. 

Avocado - must be perfectly ripe! I plan my salad around the avocado, so I usually have a 2-3 day window for Cobb Salad. Just make it when the avocado says its ready to be eaten. We only had small avocados in the house so I used a whole one. 

Tomatoes - I like mine oven-roasted or sun-blushed. For this version, I cut 10 small cherry tomatoes in half, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and sugar, and chucked in a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Cook in a low oven (275f / 135c) for about an hour until they are shriveled but still juicy in the middle. You can of course do this on an even lower temp overnight if you are doing a large batch, but this method is great for smaller amounts done quickly. 

Hard Boiled Eggs - I'm not sure this needs any explanation? Just hard boil a few eggs, peel and cut. I used 2 eggs cut into quarters. 

Bacon - I love lardons or pancetta here, they have more "bite". But you can always go the traditional way too by crumbling (lots of) crispy streaky bacon. I always prefer smoked over unsmoked as it has just that little bit more flavour. Fry 250g of pancetta, or 6 strips of bacon in a large frying pan until crispy and remove to a paper towel to dab off the excess grease. However, don't throw away all of the bacon fat in the pan, you need it for the croutons! Drain off a little bit but leave about a Tablespoon in the pan. (And don't look at me that way...)! 

Croutons - Tear off some baguette or other good bread into chunks, you want about a cup in total. Heat the leftover bacon fat with a Tablespoon of butter, and chuck in a few pieces of fresh garlic left big enough to fish out once cooked. Let the garlic impart its lovely pungent flavour and aroma into the butter and oil and remove it once it is golden brown. Don't let the garlic burn or it will become acrid! Eeew acrid garlic. Toss the bread into the pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown and toasted. Remove to a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. 

Olives - use your favourite black olives! I love the deeply salty kalamata or you could even go for the standard black olive. Or green would work too if you're feeling frisky! I used a small handful, maybe 10 olives in total. 

Dressing - I love love LOVE Thomas Keller's buttermilk dressing, its the mack daddy of homemade dressing and it can be tailored to suit just about anything! For this version I made a Blue Cheese Buttermilk dressing, lest we forget the Blue Cheese in our Cobb! Here's how I did it...