California Cobb with Poached Shrimp and Green Goddess Dressing

Let's see. When was the last time I had Green Goddess dressing. MMMM...let me think...mmm...thinking...thinking. Nope, I got nothing. I don't know if I've ever had green goddess dressing before! How can that be? How can something so creamy and so full of herby goodness have not crossed my plate before? And better than that, why with my herb garden in full swing, have I not been making this year after year.

I know that I should have started off talking about the salad. But of course the salad is good, it has shrimp and bacon and black olives and bacon and hard-boiled eggs and bacon. Nope, I'm not going there, I want to focus on this dressing. It's so easy to whip up a quick vinaigrette that I forget about creamy salad dressings. From now on my lowly dinner salads will occasionally get a pick me up from this creamy herby love in a jar.

Back to the salad. It was wonderful. The poached shrimp were fabulous. This is how I am going to cook them for any recipe that calls for poached shrimp. Everything wonderful, as usual. Would you expect anything less from Tyler??

California Cobb with Poached Shrimp and Green Goddess Dressing
from Tyler Florence: Stirring the Pot
Serves 4

Green Goddess Dressing
1/2 cup sour-cream
1/2 cup store-bought-mayonnaise
1 lemon, juice only
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 anchovy fillet
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
water as needed
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Shrimp
1 lemon, halved
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 black peppercorns
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon kosher salt
24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salad
2 head Bibb lettuce, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
8 slices bacon, cooked and cut into pieces
2/3 cup medium-size black pitted olives
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 eggs, hard-boiled and halved lengthwise
4 sprigs fresh cilantro, for garnish

To make the Green Goddess Dressing, combine sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy, and herbs in a blender and puree until light green and creamy. Add water as needed to achieve a smooth, light consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to come together. When ready to use, add additional lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

For the shrimp, fill a large pot with about 1/2 gallon water.Squeeze in the lemon juice and toss in lemon halves for extra flavor. Add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, garlic, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes to infuse the water with the aromatics. Before adding the shrimp, bring water to a rolling boil. Add the shrimp, them remove from heat and allow shrimp to poach for 7 to 8 minutes, until the turn pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp from the poaching liquid to a bowl. Chill shrimp in the refrigerator.

To assemble, combine the lettuce, bacon, olives, tomatoes, and blue cheese in a bowl. Toss with Green Goddess dressing to coat evenly. Arrange egg on top, followed by poached shrimp. Sprinkle with blue cheese and garnish with cilantro.

This will be my entry for this week's Tyler Florence Fridays.