Caesar salad - and a challenge!

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Caesar salad - and a challenge!

Postby grisell » Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:36 pm

I'm on thin ice now. I claim that I make the best Caesar Salad East of Cape Cod. However, it is an American specialty, and the best Caesar Salad I ever had was in a shockingly expensive restaurant in Texas. So, all you Americans who read this will have to excuse me. This is my humble effort, and I'm very willing to accept your opinions. Actually, I challenge all of our US friends (and others!) to come up with a better recipe! :wink:


Cut some unsweetened white bread into pieces. Dry at 150 C for 10 minutes. In this way, they won't absorb so much oil during frying.

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In the meantime: make the dressing.

1 egg yolk
Juice of 1/4 lemon
2 anchovies fillets
1 garlic clove
½ tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper

Run in a blender. Add enough extra virgin olive oil, little by little while mixing, to eliminate the aggresive sour taste of the lemon. A Caesar dressing should have a mild taste.

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Sautée the bread in olive oil untli golden. Add some garlic powder towards the end. Some parsley too if you bother to chop it...

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Let cool and try not to eat all of them while waiting for the rest...


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Mix Romaine Lettuce (not sure about the English name, but it is the only acceptable lettuce in a Caesar Salad!) with the dressing and a few tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Serve immediately so the lettuce won't lose its crispiness.

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Serve in individual bowls, garnished with the bread, some extra cheese and coarsley ground black pepper.

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André

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Postby johnfb » Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:59 pm

Looks the business, I love this salad...if you need a tester give me a shout ( an the plane fare :wink: )
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Postby wheels » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:20 pm

I agree with John, superb, but:

Grisell wrote:I'm on thin ice now


Blimey, you are! It's got to be the most controversial salad around! Anchovy or not. etc. etc. etc.

I'm hiding until this one is over!

Phil :lol:
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Postby solaryellow » Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:25 am

That looks incredible.
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Postby RodinBangkok » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:21 am

I think a dressing called a Caesar should stick with its roots, and the one you describe above is a good solid offering. Only thing I'd improve on is the croutons, use a good robust whole grain bread, toss them in melted garlic herb butter, then onto a baking pan. Make sure the pieces are uniform thickness, I like to cut them rectangular and thinner so they get really crunchy. Want a real treat make it with duck egg yolks.
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Postby NCPaul » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:32 am

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How's this for an improvement? :D
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Postby grisell » Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:18 pm

RodinBangkok wrote:I think a dressing called a Caesar should stick with its roots, and the one you describe above is a good solid offering. Only thing I'd improve on is the croutons, use a good robust whole grain bread, toss them in melted garlic herb butter, then onto a baking pan. Make sure the pieces are uniform thickness, I like to cut them rectangular and thinner so they get really crunchy. Want a real treat make it with duck egg yolks.


Noted. Thanks! :wink:
André

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Postby grisell » Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:21 pm

Looks great, NCPaul. :D I used to have an allotment, but skipped it. The weeds won. :(
André

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Postby grisell » Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:03 pm

solaryellow wrote:That looks incredible.


Thanks! :D
André

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Postby Ianinfrance » Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:32 pm

Romane or more correctly Romaine lettuce is called "cos lettuce" in the UK. FYI.

I'm sure I saw a recipe that claimed to be the "one true authentic" method by Caeser Cardini.

Yup.. here you go.
try this
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Postby grisell » Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:47 am

Thanks, Ian! Not too different from mine. :)
André

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Postby Snags » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:07 am

My one is similar (I got it from a Mexican Cook book)
I fry bacon and then brown the croutons in the bacon fat(I like to use Baguette not traditional but looks and tastes good)
I put parmessan in the dressing as well as on top
I use limes instead of lemons.(Mexicans have more access to limes than lemons so I would assume the original would have been lime too)
I use more egg yolks in the mayo/dressing
I also use more anchovies
I use a Maggi sauce too (it was in the recipe) similar to Worcestershire/Soy
In parts of Europe, Mexico, Malaysia, and Brunei, In German-speaking countries as well as the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and France, "Maggi" is still synonymous with the brand's "Maggi-Würze" (Maggi seasoning sauce), a dark, hydrolysed vegetable protein based sauce which is very similar to East Asian soy sauce without actually containing soy.[1] It was introduced in 1886, as a cheap substitute for meat extract

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi

My one is the best I have ever tasted ;)
got it from Mexico the Beautiful cookbook (they say its the original 1920;s recipe apparently everyone say this though)
yet to take the plunge still researching
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