Canlis House Signature Salad, an Event & an Award

Canlis House Signature Salad

I love to shop in the city..any city...do some sightseeing and eat at great restaurants. Seattle is one of my favourite cities for some down time and enjoying the surrounding country side with snow capped mountains and gulf islands sharing the same State. It is just about time for their Tulip Festival in the Skagit Valley as well.

Canlis House has been a landmark restaurant in Seattle for 50 years. To this day it preserves the traditions of creativity, energy and warmth that Peter Canlis began in 1950. Now in case you are wondering, this is even before my time!!! This recipe comes directly from their web site. I first drooled over this recipe on public television during one of their campaigns and was lucky enough to find it on the net. This time around I used a combination of Spring greens, including pea shoots. I also came across some Chocolate tomatoes (Rosso Bruno)...yes chocolate tomatoes from California...what's not to love about that!!!

Weekend Herb Blogging is a food blogging event sponsored by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen where each week food bloggers from around the world photograph and blog about herbs and use them in their culinary triumphs. This weeks event is being hosted by our rising star, the one and only Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook .

This month I am using mint in my dish. Mint is native to the Mediterranean and Western Asia and belongs to a large family with over 30 species including spearmint, peppermint, curly mint, ginger mint, apple mint, pineapple mint, eau de cologne mint, water mint, pennyroyal, Corsican mint, chocolate mint, lemon mint......you get the picture. It is a very prolific plant and interbreeds often which makes it difficult to identify its offspring.

All mints contain the volatile oil menthol, which gives mint that characteristic cooling, cleansing feeling.The Greeks believed mints could clear the voice, cure hiccups clean their banquet tables and add it to their baths to stimulate their bodies. The Romans used it in cooking, to aid digestion and as a mouth freshener.

Mint is part of Greek mythology and according to legend - "Menthe" originally a nymph, and Pluto's lover angered Pluto's wife, Persephone, who in a fit of rage turned Minthe into a lowly plant, to be trod upon. Pluto, unable to undo the spell, was able to soften it by giving Minthe a sweet scent, which would perfume the air when her leaves were stepped on.

In addition to all its lovely culinary and medicinal uses it deters rats and mice...so plant mint in your garden. I would always plant it in containers so that it wouldn't take over my gardens completely.

This is one of my favourite salads with it's fresh and clean flavours. You need fresh garden mint and a good bread to pull this salad off!!!

**Seattle's Canlis House Signature Salad**

1 large head romaine lettuce (Wash individual leaves in warm water, drain and dry in colander. Chill in refrigerator. Don't ever toss a Canlis Salad with warm wet leaves!!

1- 2 peeled ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onion
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup very well done bacon
4 T chopped fresh mint*
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup croutons (made with butter and Italian seasoning)

Dressing

1/2 cup garlic flavoured olive oil
the juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 coddled egg (see below)

Ingredient Notes:

*Mint - You can't use too much mint (experiment yourself)
*Olive Oil - The best Canlis salads use olive oil that has been flavoured with garlic cloves or rub the inside of the wooden bowl with garlic cloves (If you don't have a wooden salad bowl, you could add garlic powder to the dressing mix)
*Coddled Egg - Pour boiling water into a cup and put a whole egg (in the shell) into the hot water; let sit for 2 minutes. You may substitute with pasteurized egg mixture (found in the dairy section in cartons)
*Croutons - We make our own croutons. Butter and Italian seasoning.

In a large bowl place tomatoes, cut into eighths. Add the Romaine lettuce, sliced into 1-inch squares. Then add green onions, cheese (save some of the cheese to sprinkle over top of salad), bacon, oregano and 1/2 of the mint.

To make dressing: combine lemon juice, pepper and coddled egg in a bowl. Whisk together. Then slowly add olive oil, whisking constantly and tasting as you do. Pour over salad and toss thoroughly.

Add croutons and sprinkle with remaining Romano cheese and remaining mint.

Serves 4

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