Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Recipe: Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing

Caesar SaladCaesar salad is by far one of the most popular salads in North America and Caesar salad was the first salad I ever ate (this is big because I did not eat salad until I was about 20, I was a little picky when I was younger). Obviously once I tried Caesar salad it quickly became not only My favorite salad but one of my favorite things to eat. The recipe for the Caesar dressing is an variation of one that my mom has been using since the seventies and pre-dates raweggaphobia. With a chicken breast or, even better, a steak this Caesar salad will certainly satisfy!

The Recipe: Caesar Salad

The recipe below is for one salad for 4 people, however the dressing will make enough for two Caesar salads this size and will keep in the fridge for a couple days.
1 egg yolk (although the risk of salmonella is very low, 1 in 30000, you can almost eliminate this risk by using organic free range eggs)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
dash of hot sauce
Pinch of mustard powder
1 tbsp honey
1 clove of garlic finely minced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 romaine hearts (I like to chop my hearts with a chef's knife before washing and while still in tact, I do this by chopping twice on the vertical and then slicing horizontally into about 3/4 inch squares, thus saving some work and making it easy to eat)
6 pieces of bacon cooked and chopped
1/4 cup of Parmesan
Croutons:
4 slices of french loaf cut into cubes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt

You can make the Caesar salad dressing several ways depending on how thick you like it. For a really thick Caesar dressing use a food processor, for a medium thickness use a bowl and a whisk (this is my preferred method) and for a more oily (less like mayonnaise) use a jar. Each method to make the Caesar dressing is the same with regards to when you add the ingredients. To start add the egg, lemon juice, mustard powder, sea salt, pepper, hot sauce, honey, Worcestershire and garlic to a bowl and whisk until uniform. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is very thick. Slowly whisk in the apple cider vinegar, the colour should start to turn towards white and the dressing will become more liquid. The Caesar salad dressing is complete!

To build the salad, start by making the croutons. In a casserole dish combine all the ingredients and stir until the bread cubes are coated. In a 400 degree oven cook the croutons until they start to crisp, remove, let cool and try not to eat too many before making the salad.

In a large bowl (the bigger the bowl the easier it is to toss and the better the dressing will coat the lettuce), add the washed and well dried romaine hearts. Add about 1/4 of the dressing and toss well, you will probably need to add more dressing, but you do not want the dressing to pool on the bottom, so do not add to much to start. Add about half the bacon and croutons and toss again. Add the remaining croutons to the top of the salad followed by the bacon and the Parmesan. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Miranda said...

WOW! I came across your site and I love it. You have many flavorful and simple recipes that are beautiful...Thank you for sharing.

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