Panera/St. Louis Bread Company Tomato Mozzarella Salad

1 loaf focaccia bread
5 or 6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
Red onion, sliced paper thin
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Cut bread into four wedges, place on plate. Gently toss tomatoes, basil
and red onion together. Place 1/4 mixture on each wedge of bread, top
with 1/4 of cheese cubes. Pour about 2 ounce of dressing over each.

Serves 4 or it can be divided to serve 8 as a side dish.

Ruby Tuesday's Pasta Salad (clone)

Salad:
8 ounces macaroni, cooked and drained
8 ounces ham, cubed*, about 2 cups
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese*, cubed
1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, cooked and drained

Dressing:
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl combine salad ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, mix dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over
macaroni mix and toss to blend well. Cover and refrigerate several
hours or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. (More mayonnaise
or sour cream may be needed.)

*Note: We cut our ham and cheese into quarter-inch cubes.

Brennan's Creole Martini Caesar Salad

Brennan's restaurant won first place in the Most Creative category in
the 1999 Caesar salad competition. This recipe, created by executive
chef Carl Walker, was published Nov. 3, 1999.

1 1/2 cups Brennan's Creole Caesar Dressing
2 ounces pepper vodka (recipe developed with Absolut)
2 heads chilled romaine lettuce, torn into small pieces
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 prepared garlic cheese straws
6 to 12 Fried Crabmeat Olives
.
Add vodka to Dressing; shake to combine. Toss Dressing with lettuce.
Arrange in large martini glasses. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Add a
cheese straw to each glass as a stirrer. Garnish each glass with a
Fried Crabmeat Olive skewered on a toothpick. Use 1 or 2 olives per
salad. Makes 6 servings.

Creole Caesar Dressing
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
2 ounces anchovies
Juice of 1 lemon
1 egg 1 tablespoon
Creole mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 3/4 cups cottonseed or other vegetable oil
1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Combine garlic, Parmesan, anchovies, lemon juice, egg and mustard in
a food processor or blender; mix well. Add Worcestershire and
vinegar. Slowly add oil through processor cap until dressing thickens
to desired consistency. Season with pepper sauce, salt and pepper.
Makes 2 cups.

Fried Crabmeat Olives
1 1/2 teaspoons oil
1/3 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup diced celery
1/3 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
2 tablespoons seafood seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion
6 pitted black olives
12 capers
All-purpose flour

Heat oil in medium skillet almost to the smoking point. Add onion;
saut? a minute, then add bell pepper, celery and garlic. Saut? until
soft. Add crab to vegetables. Then add seafood seasoning, pepper
sauce, Worcestershire and Parmesan. Heat through. Mix in egg as you
take pan off heat, then return to heat for a few seconds while
stirring. Stir in bread crumbs and green onion; refrigerate, covered.

Stuff olives with capers, 2 capers per olive. Roll olives in crab-
cake stuffing mixture to form 1 1/2-inch balls. Bread crab cakes by
dusting them with flour. Dip in egg and roll in bread crumbs. Deep-
fry until golden brown and hot in the center.

To serve, arrange cheese straws and fried olives in martini glass.

Makes 6 servings