Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hail Caesar


I know it's been entirely to long.... I've been a little busy, and a little lazy. Not to mention uninspired, and peeved at the food world. Sure, I've come up with a "menu changing" idea at work, but, I just really haven't been into cooking at all lately.
Adam has inspired me to remind everyone how great and easy a classic Caesar salad is.
Keep reading after the recipe for the back story on my new/old love for a classic.

Classic Caesar Salad
Items you will need:
Crisp romaine hearts
Croutons, home made or store bought will do just fine
Fresh shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano, or Asiago cheese
2 Egg yolks
2-3 anchovy fillets, more or less depending on your taste
1 lemon juiced
Worcestershire sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
olive oil

In a food possessor, or blender add the anchovies, yolks, garlic, a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, half of the lemon juice, and blend to combine. Slowly drizzle the oil till smooth and creamy, salt and pepper to taste. If it's too thick, add a splash of warm water, and the rest of the lemon juice. If you break it, meaning it's separated and yucky looking, you probably added too much oil. Put one egg yolk in a metal bowl and break out your whisk. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of water to the yolk, then slowly start whisking in the broken mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.
Toss with your crisp romaine, add your cheese and croutons, and enjoy!


What lead up to new/old Caesar inspiration?
I called Adam from work today with the question "what's for dinner?"
Chicken Caesar Salad he says, even though we have no Caesar dressing, which is completely fine as long as I don't have to cook or do anything with it when I get home. So the rest of the day at work I dream about the ranch dressing in the fridge, and the sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. A mixture of the two is a "southwestern chicken salad" in my book. It's all I think about food wise for the rest of the day. So when I finally get home from work, Adam says he's going to start grilling the chicken, oh and by the way "I made some Caesar dressing, without the anchovies because we didn't have them"
My thoughts start racing, "Great! Now I can't have my "southwestern" salad",
"Where did he get the recipe?",
"I know we didn't have anchovies, but how good/flavorful is it going to be??",
"What!? He really made Caesar dressing from scratch!?".

He mentioned about how much EXTRA oil he had to add, and I knew right then it was 'broken'
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!

Oh how the thought, just the thought of a broken Caesar brought me back to culinary school, and Waterbarge days. Making Caesar dressing at least, AT LEAST once a week, if not more, and fixing "the new kids" broken mess.

One egg yolk, a splash of warm water, a splash of lemon juice, a broken 'sauce', a metal bowl, and a whisk. Houston, we have a Caesar.

It is absolutely bizarre to me to how one can break a Caesar in/using a machine.AND I will never understand the usage of already made mayonnaise in Caesar dressing, via the food network. Really??? Can you kill my trust in the food network any more these days!!??

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