Waldorf Salad

I learned how to make Waldorf Salad from Basil Fawlty. I learned how to make Waldorf Salad with grated cabbage from Marte Marie Forsberg via her book The Cottage Kitchen that I reviewed here. I find that I like both of them equally well. I suspect one of my reasons for my liking the latter version as much as I did was because, instead of using one of those hard, bowling ball cabbages that you find in the produce section of the market, I used a lovely, tender, conically-shaped offering from Melissa's Produce called Kool Cabbage. If you haven't tried it, you must! It makes a world of difference in the end result of any recipe requiring cabbage. Once you try this you will never go back to the insipid, rock hard supermarket cabbage that you've eaten for years.

I slightly adapted Forsberg's recipe by eliminating the pineapple and replacing it with dried cranberries to yield a wintrier version. I think the next time I'm going to use either roughly chopped fresh cranberries, or fold in a cranberry orange relish that I make from scratch, doesn't that sound delicious? I also am going to cut back a bit on the sauce; it was a little creamier that I generally like. Not that it wasn't good, it was, but I like to be able to identify each component individually, and I wasn't quite able to do that with the amount of sauce used in the original.

This, however, is well worth making, would serve wonderfully for the holidays, giving you an easy, not-too-sweet salad to serve alongside your holiday ham, roast beef, or turkey. I think even the kids will enjoy this one.

Waldorf Salad
Slightly adapted from The Cottage Kitchen

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup +2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
Juice of one half lemon
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into bite-size pieces
7 ounces Melissa's Kool cabbage, cored, finely sliced
1 to 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cranberries
7 ounces seedless grapes (I used a combination of Melissa's Green Muscato and Red Muscato Grapes)
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

In a small bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the mayonnaise, sugar, and lemon juice. Add the diced apple to the cream mixture to prevent the fruit from browning.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, celery, and dried cranberries. Add two thirds of the grapes and walnuts and stir well. Fold in the cream mixture until well combined, and refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining grapes and walnuts before serving.

Keeps 1-2 days in the fridge. 

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Waldorf Salad

I've been making Waldorf Salad ever since the 70s.  It's a recipe that has always been easy to remember as it was clearly stated in a very funny episode of the British sitcom, Fawlty Towers.  In a nutshell (or perhaps a walnut shell?), innkeeper Basil Fawlty encounters a very rude and demanding American, Mr. Hamilton, who first requests a drink -- a screwdriver -- of which he had never heard, and then baffles him completely by ordering a Waldorf Salad. After informing him that the hotel is “out of Waldorfs," Hamilton barks at him that it is “celery, apples, walnuts, grapes, in a mayonnaise sauce.”  

Essentially, that’s it.  Easy, right?  And it is easy, but a couple of additions can make this salad a touch better than the classic version first created circa 1893 at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. The quality of the produce makes all the difference, along with a switch from seedless red grapes to champagne grapes (that literally burst with juice and sweetness, and are so adorably cute!), will really enhance this salad.

Here’s my version:

Waldorf Salad

1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced, cored, tart apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Melissa’s Champagne grapes

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ cup heavy cream, whipped until thick

¼ cup mayonnaise

A pinch of freshly grated lemon zest

A pinch of cinnamon

Combine celery, apples, walnuts, grapes, zest, and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir together cream and mayonnaise, and toss with the salad mixture.  Top with a few gratings (or pinch) of good cinnamon.  Serve on a lettuce leaf with additional champagne grapes as a garnish, at room temperature or chilled.

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Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Foodie Friday