Iceberg Wedge Salad

Needed a classic salad.  This seemed to fit perfectly.  But the real magic was in the vinaigrette… a bacon roux.  Use the leftover vinaigrette to drizzle on top of asparagus, maybe topped with a chopped hard boiled egg.  Plus, great use of that bacon fat you keep in the fridge!!

Ingredients

Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup bacon fat
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• kosher salt, cracked black pepper to taste

Salad

• 1 head of iceberg lettuce, cored and cut into wedges
• 6 ounces of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 4 ounces of blue cheese
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. If you don’t already have cooked bacon and reserved bacon fat,  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 1/4 cup of the bacon fat in the skillet.
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 1 1/2 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. Put the iceberg wedges on plates. Drizzle with the warm dressing, and sprinkle with the bacon pieces, blue cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

This recipe was featured in Feeding the Fire: Recipes and Strategies for Better Barbecue and Grilling by Joe Carroll.