Wilted Lettuce anyone??

anyone have this on their menu? my dad would make it every summer when the bibb was ready - he had this huge metal bowl he tossed everything in before serving

I want some

Wilted Lettuce Salad...One of my top 4 or 5 things to eat. I don't know that one could do proper justice to it in a restaurant environment...Too labor intensive to be a money maker and too easy to screw up if you don't know what you are doing.

I don't know - if you had all ingredients ready - warm up the dressing then toss individuals as ordered...this would be a huge hit IMO - more so in winter than summer!!

My favorite when your spinach is too mature to be good raw, but I'm still in the mood for a salad. The dressing made in a pan that's been used to cook the bacon for the top, of course.

I don't know - if you had all ingredients ready - warm up the dressing then toss individuals as ordered...this would be a huge hit IMO - more so in winter than summer!!

Hmmmm....yeah...now that I think about it you may be right, they could probably do it. That being said I -know- how I like my Wiltie-Lettuce Salad and It'd be one of those things where if I were to order it in a restaurant, I probably wouldn't be happy...Then I'd have to rear 'em a new ass on the food forum...Then they'd get on and call me an "amaetur expert", etc, etc.

One of my favorite summer dishes. As far as a restaurant goes, could be done tableside. I think it would be a big hit. I turned some friends from Chicago on to it last summer. They had never heard of it. I guess it a southern thing.

What kind of a salad are you talking about? I often visited an Irish style restaurant that had a wilted spinach salad with bacon. I can't remember the recipe but this place was high volume and seem to be able to bring out a great product.

Wilted Lettuce, at least as I know it, is a sweet-vinegary dressing poured while hot over the lettuce. My grandma made it with iceberg and thinly sliced onions and eggs in it. One of my favorite things she made and I would give anything to have gotten her recipe!

I could see how it would be labor intensive, but timing would have to be precise to deliver a good product.

If anyone has a recipe to share, I'd love to give it a shot!

Can't remember my moms recipe off the top of my head. I have it written down but Im in Santa Fe and dont have my book with me. It goes something like this.

Brown off diced bacon, combine hot bacon and grease with sugar and cider vinegar, pour over leaf lettuce toss and serve. I know some people add thin sliced onions and chopped egg but I never prepared it that way. Leaf lettuce is the only lettuce I have ever used.

Wilted Lettuce

A Large bowl of leaf lettuce( 2 heads of John's good fresh lettuce)
1 onion slivered - you can lightly saute it
6-8 slices of warn crisp bacon cut 1/2-1 inch pieces
1/3 c. bacon grease
1/3 c. vinegar
2 T. Splenda or sugar-you may want a little more

I use a stainless steel bowl. Fill bowl with lettuce add onion and bacon. Mix grease and vinegar, boil to dissolve sugar or Splenda. Pour over lettuce. Mix well and enjoy, quickly. Don't let it wait.

Chopped boiled eggs, crumbled crispy bacon, and sliced green onions.
Bibb lettuce (rinse, pat dry, tear into big, bite size pieces) - use the the grease from the fried bacon, add white vinegar, a little sugar, simmer (on low) till the sugar is dissolved (this dressing is not thick like hot bacon dressing on spincah salad - it's much thinner) - toss everything in the bowl. It's awesome served with grilled bread (don't want to turn on that oven in the summer!). You can also add some fresh grated cheese of your choice if you like, but just a little! My dad would make enough to feed 30 + people

As far as a restaurant goes, could be done tableside

yes! now you're talkin'

Thanks for the recipes! I think this salad with some smoked chicken will be a perfect dinner one night this week.

I've made this twice this week and everyone loves it! I went off the recipes here and what I remember from grandma's table. I've been cooking the onions in the bacon grease for a few minutes, just til tender and then adding in the sugar and vinegar to taste with a little salt and pepper. My super picky hubby wasn't too crazy about the idea at first, but had two large helpings last night.

I've found that it's best to keep the grease hot if you have to postpone putting the salad together. I mixed the vinegar and sugar too early the first time and the flavor started to dilute while trying to keep it warm before everything else was ready. Excess dressing keeps well if taken off the heat though