Happy Birthday Julia Child

Today is the anniversary of Julia Child's birthday. So happy birthday Julia Child!! In honor of her I am including her recipe for Cobb Salad. I'm not very enthusiastic about french food, so this is the most palatable for me.

Cobb Salad
(Julia Child from Julia Child & More Company)

1/2 head fine green iceberg lettuce
1 small head chicory
1/2 head romaine
1 medium bunch watercress, to make a cup or so of leaves and the tender stems
2 poached chicken breasts
salt
fresh ground pepper
1 lemonolive oil
6 slices cooked bacon
3 hard boiled eggs
2 TB minced fresh chives, or the white part of scallions, or a mixture of shallots and parsley)
2 ounces (60 grams) real roquefort or best-quality blue cheese
2 medium sized good ripe tomatoes
About 1 cup plain vinaigrette

Preliminaries (done hours beforehand)

Separate leaves of salad greens, discard tough or witled parts of them. Wash leaves and spin dry; wrap loosely and refrigerate. Pull off the leaves and small tender stems of watercress from tough stems. Wash and wrap in a damp paper towel and place in the fridge.
(See instructions below for poaching the chicken.) Cut the chicken breasts into a fine dice by cutting into thin slices, then into strips, then into a fine dice. Toss with a little oil, salt and pepper, and set aside in a bowl. Mince bacon and set aside. Mince eggs (I used a garlic press) and season with salt and pepper and set aside. Dice the cheese in the same size as the eggs and place cheese in the bowl with the eggs. Mince the chives or scallions and add them to the egg/cheese mixture. Set aside. Blanch the tomatoes for about 15 seconds in boiling water (or hold over a gas burner), then peel skin off--place in a bowl and set aside.
Half an hour before serving(Items that wilt if done sooner)

Choose a big salad bowl with enough room for tossing.

With a large sharp knife, cut the salad greens into a fine dice--about 3/16 inch or 1/2 cm--by cutting narrow julienne strips, stacking them together and cutting--as done for the chicken. Place greens in a bowl and add minced watercress. Cut the tomatoes in half and gently seed and squeeze to remove liquid. Chop fine and set aside in a bowl after adding salt and pepper. Halve the avocado, remove seed and peel, dice it fine like the tomatoes. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Just before serving

Whisk the vinaigrette and toss about 1/3 of the minced greens with the dressing, taste for seasoning. Arrange the rest of the ingredients on top of the greens. Present at once to to the table for admiration, then toss salad with abandon at the table.
Note: If you aren't going to serve the salad immediately, assemble it without putting any of the dressing on the salad. Wait until just before you are going to serve it to pour on dressing.

Poached Chicken Breasts
Poach chicken breasts in 1/2 cup dry white wine and enough water just to cover them. Add a bay leaf, a finely chopped shallot, 3 parsley sprigs, 4 peppercorns, and 1/'2 Tablespoon of salt. Bring just to the simmer and cook for 10 minutes until meat is springy to the touch. Let cool for 30 minutes in the cooking broth, then drain, wrap and refrigerate.

Vinaigrette
4-6 TB good wine vinegar and/ or lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
12 TB olive oil
fresh pepper

Optional: 1 tsp chopped fresh herbs to taste, minced garlic clove or shallots

Beat vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard until dissolved. Add the oil and seasonings. Sir to recombine when you dress the salad.