St. Anselm’s Iceberg Wedge Salad

St. Anselm’s Iceberg Wedge Salad
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(445)
Comments
Read comments

This wedge salad, adorned with blue cheese and warm bacon vinaigrette, is served at the restaurant St. Anselm in Brooklyn. The revelatory vinaigrette is actually a roux made with bacon fat, then thinned with cider vinegar and water, a hit of sugar and another of Dijon mustard. It is superb, and it would not be out of place drizzled over grilled asparagus, accompanied by chopped hard-boiled eggs. —Sam Sifton

Featured in: Fette Sau’s Joe Carroll Writes ‘Feeding the Fire,’ a Worthy Barbecue Primer

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Dressing

    • 6ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
    • 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • ½cup cider vinegar
    • 1tablespoon granulated sugar
    • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
    • Kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

    For the Salad

    • 1large head of iceberg lettuce, cut and cored into 4 wedges
    • 4ounces blue cheese, crumbled
    • ¼cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

332 calories; 24 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 711 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large skillet set over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Pour off all but ¼ cup of the bacon fat in the skillet.

  2. Step 2

    Lower the heat under the skillet, then stir in the flour and cook, stirring often with a spoon, until the flour is lightly browned, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1½ cups water to the mixture, along with the vinegar, sugar and mustard, and allow to come to a simmer. Whisk the mixture frequently until the dressing is thick enough to resemble gravy and coat the back of a spoon, approximately 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

  3. Step 3

    Put the iceberg wedges on plates. Drizzle with the warm dressing, and sprinkle with the bacon pieces, blue cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5
445 user ratings
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Comments

I cannot give enough kudos for this recipe. This takes a normally ultra rich starter into the realm of frequent enjoyment without feeling like a splurge. Cheese, bacon, and a thick piquant dressing. It sounds so hedonistic, but it's truly a judicious amount of these luxury ingredients....it's the dressing that won me over. Thick rich mouthfeel, but very light on the actual fat...1 tb. per person! You can easily make the dressing in advance and rewarm at serving. Loved this.

The recipe for the dressing looks nearly like what we make out here in the Midwest as a dressing for spinach salad. Also makes a splendid dressing for German potato salad.

If your lettuce was bitter, it was probably old. Also, try removing the root end of the iceberg (that is bitter) and cutting it into smaller segments. It will absorb the dressing better.

Guess this is my new favorite salad. Didn’t have iceberg on hand so I subbed romaine hearts which, of course, was still delicious- though I suspect the crunch of thick iceberg would be more desirable for this one. Either way… YUM.

Bit too vinegary for me.

This was a hit! I was wary of the dressing, couldn’t wrap my head around it, but it was perfect. All diners raves about it.

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Credits

Adapted from “Feeding the Fire,” by Joe Carroll

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