Wedge Salad
Sides, Soups & Salads
The wedge salad is a beautiful, brutalist masterpiece of the American diner menu. It is a study in magnificent contrasts—the freezing, watery crunch of iceberg lettuce fighting against the glorious, salty funk of blue cheese and the shattered perfection of flat-top bacon. For the home cook armed with a cast-iron skillet and a heavy steak weight, nailing this late-night classic is an exercise in short-order thermodynamics, forcing fat to render into submission for a dish that demands absolutely zero apologies.
Ingredients
- mayonnaise1/2 cup
- sour cream1/2 cup
- cultured buttermilk1/4 cup
- fresh lemon juice1 tbsp
- Worcestershire sauce1 tsp
- garlic powder1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/4 tsp
- kosher salt1 pinch
- domestic blue cheese4 oz
- iceberg lettuce1 large
- thick-cut bacon8 strip
- grape tomatoes1 cup
- red onion1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt until entirely smooth.
Vigorously smash about half of the crumbled blue cheese directly into the emulsion with the back of a spoon to infuse the dressing with that deep, pungent funk, then fold in the remaining chunks and chill it in the refrigerator.
- 02
Arrange the bacon strips flat in a cold cast-iron skillet and cover them entirely with a heavy bacon press.
Turn the heat to medium. Starting cold forces the fat to render out slowly and gently, while the sheer weight of the press prevents the protein from seizing and curling, yielding the shatteringly crisp, perfectly flat bacon prized by veteran short-order cooks.
- 03
Transfer the crisped bacon to paper towels, turn off the heat, and immediately scrape the hot skillet with a stiff metal spatula.
This scraping motion is exactly how a line cook clears the flat-top, loosening the rendered fond into the liquid bacon grease. Save that liquid gold for tomorrow morning's hash browns, then crumble your cooled bacon into bite-sized shards.
- 04
Hold the head of iceberg with the core facing downward and smack it violently against the cutting board.
Twist the dislodged core to pull it out in one clean piece, then cut the head vertically into four equal, thick wedges. Gently rinse them under freezing cold water and pat them completely dry with paper towels; if the leaves are wet, your heavy dressing will slide right off.
- 05
Position one wedge on a chilled plate and bury it beneath a generous ladle of the blue cheese dressing.
Scatter the shattered bacon, tomatoes, and red onion over the top so the garnishes cling to the steep, creamy slopes, finishing with a final aggressive grind of coarse black pepper before serving immediately.
From Cook Diner Food at Home.