The wedge. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. I take the middle road with tangy, irresistible Roquefort dressing. The blue cheese dressing starts with an emulsified red wine vinaigrette, which then gets thickened and expanded with sour cream and mayonnaise. The blue cheese augments the creaminess and provides that funky blue flavor counterpoint to the vinaigrette base. If you want to be decadent, you can add 4–5 ounces of real Roquefort cheese, which is more complex and intense than basic blue cheese from the store. And, no, there’s no bacon on this salad. I’m a purist! Make the dressing and tomato garnish at least 4 hours and up to a day ahead.
SERVES: 8
FOR THE BLUE CHEESE DRESSING:
½ large shallot
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup imported red wine vinegar
1 cup 75/25 canola/olive oil blend (see here)
1 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 cups crumbled mild blue cheese
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup crumbled Roquefort cheese, optional
FOR THE TOMATO GARNISH:
10 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, mixed colors if available
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons finely minced chives
½ teaspoon finely minced shallot
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
FOR THE SALAD:
2 large heads iceberg lettuce, cored, damaged leaves removed, and cut into 4 wedges each
½ cup crumbled blue cheese or Roquefort
Make the dressing: Put the shallot, garlic, mustard, and vinegar in the jar of a blender. Start on low and gradually increase the speed to high and blend for 35 seconds. Slowly add the oil, ½ cup at a time, and blend until the dressing is completely emulsified.
Pour the dressing into a bowl and whisk in the mayonnaise and sour cream. Add the blue cheese and whisk until combined. Add the pepper, salt, and lemon juice and whisk.
Add ½ cup of the Roquefort, if using, and whisk to combine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
Make the garnish: In a nonreactive bowl, gently toss the tomatoes with the salt, pepper, chives, shallot, lemon juice, and olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
Make the salad: Place each wedge of iceberg lettuce on a plate. Distribute the tomatoes evenly around the wedges. Pour 3–4 serving spoonfuls of dressing over each wedge and garnish with a tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese, or Roquefort if you used it in the salad dressing.
For the starters section of the Knife menu, we have some over-the-top meaty options like a bacon tasting. But one thing I wanted to do with this genre was to play with the concept of surf and turf, that well-worn steakhouse cliché. When we were designing the original menu, I said to the team, “We’re not putting surf and turf on this menu. It’s heavy and weird to pair lobster tail and filet mignon, not to mention it’s often used as gimmick to pry a hundred dollars from a customer.” Instead, I repurposed this concept into a series of dishes far more exotic and exciting.
At Knife, we use the idiom of surf and turf to explore the visceral, powerful flavors of the earth and the sea. On paper, these flavor combinations seem bizarre, but in practice, they really work. This is mostly because they highlight the sensation of umami through combinations of some of the world’s richest and most flavorful substances like sea urchin and blood, caviar and marrow, octopus and chorizo. These dishes are unusual but also simple to make (especially if you buy the blood sausage at a butcher shop) and will wow your guests at a dinner party.*