Bay Burger’s Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing, Tomatoes And Red Onion.

I frequently take part in surveys about where I eat and what I eat and when. It goes with the territory when you write about food. Inevitably, there’s a question about how long ago I’ve visited a fast food restaurant. I invariably answer “Never” because I gave up fast food over ten years ago. That’s also when we ousted as much processed food from our diet as we possibly could. While I am still not making my own Ketchup or Mayonnaise, I’ve been very successful in keeping things fresh around here. Then how do I explain my attachment to Bay Burger, the Sag Harbor Hamburger Emporium at 1742 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike Sag Harbor, NY 11963 (Phone: 631.899.3915)? In certain circles it would be classified as Fast Food faster than you can say McDonald’s. But it isn’t. Not by a long shot. For one thing, have you ever been to a McDonald’s that operates as a Farmer’s Market on Saturdays all winter? Does your local McD’s have jazz nights every Thursday? Does your fast food restaurant make its own ice cream with the fantastic tagline: “It’s from the Hamptons so you know it’s rich”? And one summer they even made the most incredible ham sandwich. ( I do hope they bring that one back.) And how is the food there ?

At Bayburger, owners Liza and Joe Tremblay, bake brioche buns and grind their own meat daily. And there’s their famous fish sandwich (featured here: http://chewingthefat.us.com/2010/03/joe-and-lizas-fish-sandwich-from-bay.htmland their lobster roll packed with tender chunks of sweet lobster meat. Oh, and did I leave off their wine list of Long Island’s finest by the glass or bottle? And finally, how could I possibly compare the pathetic salad at Mickey D’s to the wonderful crisp, crunchy wedge of lettuce at Bay Burger. Garnished with ripe tomatoes and fresh red onion and then covered in a creamy blue cheese dressing, topped with a handful of just-grilled bacon, this is no fast food joint salad, this is a gourmet’s delight. So I asked Liza for the recipe. And because they are the soul of hospitality, Joe Tremblay shared it with me to share with you.

I very seldom choose Iceberg when I am shopping for lettuce. For one thing, I was led to believe that there was about zero nutrition in the green. Not so, reads the lettuce I bought to make my Wedge salad. Iceberg has tons of fiber – over a third of the RDA for the stuff. And it’s loaded with Vitamins A and K. I’d put in a plug for its calorie count but I’d get 4 Pinocchios right after I’ve ladled the dressing over the lettuce. And a 5th one for the bacon. Nevertheless, Iceberg itself, combined with cherry or grape tomatoes, is a very respectable menu item. And if you’re really anti-Iceberg, why not slice a Romaine Lettuce straight down the middle and use that ? It wouldn’t sit up on your plate looking like the Matterhorn like mine, but it would have all the flavor of this refreshingly cool salad.

There’s a pantry-full of ingredients in
Joe Tremblay’s Dressing Recipe

About the blue cheese. Unfortunately this is on our household’s ‘Do Not Serve’ list as Andrew just does not like the stuff. However, in the interest of Chewing the Fat, he agreed to try it. And in the interests of making the experience palatable to him, I stayed away from the powerful blue Roquefort and found a nice wedge of Saga Blue, which I seemed to remember from my pre-Andrew Blue Cheese-eating-days, was a nice mild blue with a lot of creamy texture. I even cut down on the amount Joe recommended. I used just a cup in the food processor portion of the recipe and left out the recommended second cup altogether. I thought I’d cut back on the blue cheese taste enough without eliminating it altogether. I was wrong. It was still too much for Andrew. So if you have blue cheese hater in your midst, you might skip this recipe altogether. But boy what you’d be missing! It’s like a crisp BLT on a plate without all the carbs of the sandwich. This recipe makes a lot of dressing. I could see it being used as a dip for Buffalo Chicken Wings with their traditional carrot and celery garnish. Here’s the recipe: Make it yourself or head over to Bay Burger anytime this weekend and see how we make “Fast Food” on the East End.

Recipe for Bayburger’s Wedge Salad of Iceberg Lettuce, Red Onions, Tomatoes and Blue Cheese Dressing.

1.5 cups Mayo
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Blue Cheese
1 teaspoon hot sauce (“Frank’s” was recommended by Joe and won the Cook’s Illustrated Best Hot Sauce ranking)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon Goya adobo seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

For the garnish:

Slice Cherry or Grape tomatoes in half. You’ll need a half cup per serving of Wedge Salad.

Slice a small red onion into very thin slices.

Allow 3 slices of bacon for each wedge. Cook the bacon slowly over medium heat in a sauté pan. When it is quite crisp, remove the bacon from the pan and then chop it into small pieces with a knife.

Blend the above ingredients in food processor or with a stick blender until evenly mixed and then stir in another cup of blue cheese crumbles (more or less to taste). If you prefer your dressing thinner or thicker you can adjust by adding more buttermilk to thin, or sour cream to thicken.