1905 Salad with Jarlsberg and the BlogHer Food Conference

Happy Monday and hello to another week! Things have been quiet here because I was attending BlogHer Food in Atlanta for several days and then recovering from it yesterday.

This was the 3rd annual BlogHer Food conference and was the largest so far with about 500 attendees. Thank you so much to my sponsor, Jarlsberg, who made it possible for me to attend this year’s conference. Jarlsberg is truly one of our favorite cheeses, so it was a pleasure to have them as my sponsor.

This size conference was very different from smaller venues like Food Blog Forum (also sponsored in part by Jarlsberg), which I hosted in Atlanta last year. Networking and seeing friends are some of the major reasons to attend, but there were also a few sessions that resonated with me.

One of these was the first break-out session I attended with David Leite (Leite’s Culinaria) and Nancy Baggett (Kitchenlane.com) – Fortify Your Culinary Prose. As one who talks waay too much writes long posts, this was incredibly helpful. Maybe you will now see more elegant and less verbiage in the future. 😉

The Closing Keynote: The Evolution of Food Writing: From Ivory Tower to Public Square with Lisa Stone (BlogHer’s founder), Molly O’Neill, Meredith Ford Goldman and Tanya Steel encouraged and inspired me to move forward with some things that have been in the works.  There’s nothing like a little kick in the butt listening to successful women to get you motivated!

Conferences like this usually include late nights with friends from far away (Pamela from My Man’s Belly, I am talking about you!), and making new friends (Andrew Wilder from Eating Rules).  They also include many parties and cocktails.  I would have made a fool out of myself danced the night away at the closing party at The Tabernacle if local friends (Lynn from Mama Says) hadn’t dragged me away early Saturday evening!

Now that BlogHer Food is over, I am back to the business at hand (writing, traveling and cooking). I have been in the kitchen working with a generous chunk of Jarlsberg to bring you a few recipes using this delightful cheese. We love serving it as a cheese course, nibbling it for a snack and using it in sandwiches, but it is also a great addition to baked dishes, especially when a recipe calls for Swiss Cheese. I like substituting it to add a more pronounced and almost nutty flavor.

A salad was definitely in order after lots of food and snacks (like the Scharffen Berger chocolate tarts) over the last few days, so I made a main dish salad with some of the Jarlsberg cheese. Have you ever tried a 1905 Salad?

The 1905 Salad originates from The Columbia Restaurant, which is Florida’s oldest Spanish restaurant. Their location that we went to several weeks ago was in St. Augustine, Florida. The story behind the salad is that it was created by a waiter back in the 1940‘s, but became a replacement for the “salad bar” (remember those?) in the 1970‘s. It has also been adapted several times over the years and this recipe is the current one.

We have had this salad at several places (including The Columbia  Restaurant). The one I made at home was much better. I am sure that making everything fresh and serving it quickly was part of the reason it was so good.  The flavors are delightful with the addition of fresh squeezed lemon juice and the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. Be sure not to add the liquid ingredients until you are ready to serve the salad, as the lettuce will wilt if it sits too long.

This salad will be a great addition to your recipe folder for the warm summer months.  I personally love not having to turn the oven on when it is so hot outside.  It is a perfect main dish salad filled with meat, two different cheeses, olives and tomatoes.  Substitute turkey for the ham, if you desire.  Add a loaf of crusty French bread and enjoy!

P.S. – If I don’t eat Roger doesn’t eat the rest of the Jarlsberg cheese, there will be another great recipe to come!