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Fooling Around in the Kitchen
Greek Salad with Shrimp Recipe
Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen - Recipes by Wolfgang Puck
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By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services
Many people tell me that I look like I'm having a lot of fun when I'm
cooking. It's true. To me, the kitchen is my playground. Coming up with
new recipes that taste delicious and look beautiful is one of the
activities I enjoy the most.
Many chefs invent new recipes by playing around with the classics. I
like to take a dish with which everyone is familiar and look for ways
to modify it for today's tastes. I might try to change how the dish is
served, taking an appetizer or a side dish, for example, and
transforming it into a main course. Or I'll take a rustic recipe and
make it more elegant.
Those are the strategies I used, for example, to come up with one of
the most popular lunchtime salads at my Spago restaurants: the Greek
Salad with Shrimp.
The starting point was the well-known salata horiatiki, or "country
salad," offered as an appetizer or side dish on the menus of Greek
restaurants. The mixture of chopped lettuce, cucumber, red onion,
tomato, and bell pepper is garnished with Kalamata olives and chunks of
feta cheese, then tossed with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice
or vinegar.
I decided to refine that standard. I began by taking the
sharpest-tasting ingredient in the salad, the raw onion, and turning it
into something just as flavorful but with a sweeter, milder character
by caramelizing the onion.
Next, I turned to the lettuce. Most restaurants just use iceberg, which
is all crunch without much character. Instead, I substituted sweet yet
crispy hearts of Romaine, plus the colorful, flavorful mixed baby
lettuces you can find bagged and ready to use in supermarkets. And in
place of regular tomato, I decided to substitute sweet little cherry
tomatoes along with tiny golden pear-shaped tomatoes, contributing
still more color and flavor.
Another twist came with the feta cheese. In place of chunks, I decided
to grate the cheese, blending it into the salad for an almost creamy
effect. And I added a little freshly grated Parmesan, for its own nutty
flavor.
Of course, the biggest change I made was to turn the salad into a main
course by topping it with plump shrimp tossed with a garlicky yogurt
dressing inspired by the Greek dip tzatziki. If you don't want to
bother with buying and cooking the jumbo shrimp I call for, you could
substitute an equal weight of precooked baby bay shrimp. Or use
leftover grilled salmon or other seafood, or cold slices of cooked lamb
tenderloin or steak.
Try preparing this salad for a weekend lunch or even a warm-weather
dinner. You'll be surprised how delicious the results can be when
you've just been playing in the kitchen.
Greek Salad with Shrimp Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
CARAMELIZED ONION:
1-1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 3/4-inch dice
1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
SHRIMP DRESSING:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely diced peeled and seeded cucumber
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
SALAD:
16 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half horizontally
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1 head romaine lettuce hearts, torn into bite-sized pieces
4 cups mixed baby lettuces, washed and dried
1/2 each red and yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, trimmed, and cut
into 1-inch squares
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, quartered, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup yellow pear and red cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1/2 pound good-quality feta cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup Greek Salad Dressing (recipe follows)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup shelled pine nuts, toasted in a small dry skillet over low heat until golden, 3 to 4 minutes
Fresh dill sprigs, for garnish
GREEK SALAD DRESSING (Makes 2-1/2 cups):
1 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1-1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of sugar, or to taste
Preparation
First, prepare the Caramelized Onion:
In a medium skillet or saute pan,
heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring
frequently, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Stir in the
vinegar and cook 1 minute longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer to a bowl, cool, cover, and refrigerate until needed.
Next, prepare the Shrimp Dressing:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the
yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, onion, dill, and garlic. Season with
cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate.
To prepare the salad, first cook the shrimp. In a large saute pan, heat
the safflower oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute,
stirring continuously, until they turn pink and are cooked through,
about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a dish and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the romaine, baby lettuces, Caramelized
Onions, bell peppers, olives, cucumber, and tomatoes. Using the large
holes on a hand-held grater, grate in the feta. Add the Parmesan and
the 1 cup Greek Salad Dressing. Toss until well coated. Season to taste
with salt and pepper. Divide and mound onto 4 chilled salad plates.
In a medium bowl, toss together the shrimp and Shrimp Dressing. Arrange
8 shrimp halves on each salad mound. Top with pine nuts and garnish
with dill sprigs.
Preparing the Greek Salad Dressing:
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, garlic, dill, parsley, thyme, salt, and white pepper.
Whisking continuously, slowly pour in the oil to form a smooth emulsion. Season to taste with sugar.
Refrigerate in a covered container. Whisk again before use.
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The Austrian-born Puck began his formal training at age 14, inspired by his mother, Maria, a hotel chef. He left Europe for America in 1973 at the age of 24, having already worked in the master kitchens of three-star French restaurants. In 1975, Puck moved to Los Angeles, and soon was both chef and part-owner of Ma Maison. It quickly became a magnet for the rich and famous, with Puck as star attraction. Since then, he has changed the way Americans cook and eat by fusing formal French techniques and Asian- and California-influenced esthetics with the highest quality ingredients.
After the 1981 publication of the first of his five cookbooks, Puck, in partnership with designer Barbara Lazaroff, opened Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, it was an instant success and culinary phenomenon from its opening day in 1982. Although the original location closed in 2000, three years after the successful opening of Spago Beverly Hills, Spago Hollywood today is remembered internationally as a legendary haven for entertainment, political and social luminaries.
In 2000, Puck developed his own "Wolfgang Puck" television show, which began airing on the Food Network in January 2001. The show features Puck sharing his cooking expertise with a studio audience who joins him in his kitchen, along with field documentary segments in which he explores the vast and diverse world of food, from farms to artisan workshops to restaurants, and visits with such luminaries as Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Paul Bocuse. "Wolfgang Puck" was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Service Show in 2002.
Puck also appears regularly on ABC's "Good Morning America," sharing his latest creations. He has been a guest on a multitude of other shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Entertainment Tonight," "ABC News with Peter Jennings," "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "Frasier," and "The Simpsons." In 2001, the A&E Network featured Puck's life on its popular "Biography" series.
Puck and partner Barbara Lazaroff are actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations, including their own Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation, established in 1982, which supports the annual American Wine & Food Festival to benefit Meals-on-Wheels.
Puck lives in Beverly Hills. He and Barbara Lazaroff have two sons, Cameron and Byron.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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