Original Brown Derby Cobb Salad

Enjoy a taste of Hollywood. Classic Hollywood, that is. As iconic as the Hollywood sign is The Brown Derby restaurant which was founded by Herbert Somborn. Somborn was a noted film director married to actress Gloria Swanson. His friend, Wilson Mizner, is credited with naming the restaurant and helping to finance it, along with Jack Warner.

The Brown Derby restaurant has quite the history in Los Angeles. The restaurant garnered the support of movie stars, studio executives, and city preservationists. Reportedly, the most successful of the “Derby” locations was the Vine St, Hollywood Brown Derby due to the close proximity to the studios.

The Hollywood Brown Derby is said to be the birthplace of the Cobb salad.

As the story goes, the now famous salad was hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Bob Cobb for showman and theater owner Sid Grauman. It was finely chopped because Grauman had just had dental work done and wasn’t able to chew well. (via Wikipedia, Brown Derby)

Original Brown Derby Cobb Salad — Photo credited to Jodi Michelle via Wikipedia

The Original Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad consists of a variety of lettuces, tomatoes, avocado, egg, chicken, and cheese tossed with classic French dressing. This Los Angeles classic spawned Cobb Salad variations worldwide.

RECIPE TIPS & VARIATIONS:

WARNING: This recipe contains BACON! [ LOL, LOL. I get a lot of “flack” because I don’t eat bacon. Hello! It upsets my stomach as does sausage. Why would I eat it?! ]
To peel tomatoes, score (cut and “x”) the “root end” of the tomato with a pairing knife. Bring water to a boil in a medium stock pot. Add tomatoes and “blanch” for about 30 seconds. Transfer tomatoes to an ice bath to cool and stop the cooking process. Using your fingertips, gently remove outer skin from the tomatoes.
Pre-cook the chicken breasts. Here’s an easy recipe… Chopped Kale Salad with Lemon Pepper Chicken. Just skip the Kale Salad part of the recipe or make the recipe and save the Kale Salad for another day > Kale Salad with Lemon Pepper Chicken
Prepare the French Dressing ahead of time. Recipe, here > Classic French Dressing
Steam (or hard boil) the eggs ahead of time and chill. Recipe, Wasabi Deviled Eggs with Nori explains how to steam eggs.
Use hot house tomatoes for the classic recipe. Roma tomatoes may be substituted.
Watercress is a natural detoxifier for the body. Eat up!
Present the salad ingredients individually on a decorative serving platter or plate and toss at the table.
Roquefort cheese may be substituted with feta, goat, or your favorite cheese

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Recipe

Original Brown Derby Cobb Salad

Entree, Salad

The Original Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad consists of lettuces, tomatoes, avocado, egg, chicken, and cheese tossed with classic French dressing

Ingredients

1/2 head iceberg lettuce
1/2 bunch watercress
1 small bunch curly endive leaves
1/2 head romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (key: peeled - see TIPS above)
1 whole skinless, boneless, chicken breast, cooked and diced
6 slices bacon, cooked and diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced
3 steamed or hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/3 cup Roquefort cheese, crumbled
French Dressing (link to recipe above)

Instructions

Chop iceberg lettuce, watercress, endive, and romaine into very fine pieces.
Mix chopped greens in a large bowl and toss greens together.
Arrange greens on a serving platter.
In individual rows on top of the greens, place a row of chives, then tomatoes, chicken breast, bacon, avocado, eggs, and cheese.
Present tableside with 1/2 cup of French Dressing on the side.
Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.
Serves about 6 people.

Original Brown Derby Cobb Salad