i can't remember the name of the restaurant we ate at, but they claimed that caesar had invented the salad there, which seemed kind of unlikely since it didn't seem like all that old of a restaurant. of course, i could be remembering wrong since not long after eating the salad, i got sick to my stomach and could not finish dinner and spent the night in pain and agony with the worst sunburn of my life.
i do remember the salad being damn good though. they mixed the ingredients in front of us and i remember it being the best caesar salad of my life. the other night i got a craving for it so i decided to try to make it on my own. i based my caesar off of the one in how to cook everything by mark bittman, and it came out ok but not great.
i used:
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 medium eggs
- 3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T. colman's mustard
- 1 T. minced anchovies
- dash of worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 small head romaine, washed, dried, and chopped
- homemade garlic croutons (cubed sourdough which i sauteed in garlic infused oil until light brown and crispy)
- 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
like i said, it was just ok. it was not zesty enough (even though i added extra lemon and the mustard) and it was too runny. so help me out. what should i do differently to make my caesar dressing really amazing? i am thinking i need more anchovies next time and maybe only one egg. do you guys have any other suggestions?
8 comments:
This recipe and procedure is far from ideal. That's why it didn't work - it's not you! This is from my Professional Cooking textbook we use at the Midwest Culinary Institute:
(scale down as needed)
Ingredients:
Amount Unit Ingredient Preparation
2 lb Romaine leaves
12 fl oz Olive oil
1 oz White bread 1-1.5 oz (30-45 g)
1 each Garlic cloves 1-2 cloves
4 each Anchovy fillets 4-8 fillets
2 each Eggs, pasteurized reccommended
2.5 fl oz Lemon juice
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
to taste --- Salt
Procedure:
1. Wash and drain the greens thoroughly. Chill in the refrigerator
2. Trim the crusts from the bread. Cut the bread into small cubes measuring about 3/8 in. (1 cm).
3. Heat a thin layer of olive oil (3-4 fl oz/up to 125 mL) in a sauté pan over moderately high heat. Add the bread cubes and sauté in the oil until golden and crisp. Add more oil as needed.
4. Remove the croutons from the pan and hold for service. Do not refrigerate.
5. Have all ingredients prepared ahead of time and arranged on a cart in the dining room.
6. Ask the customers how much garlic they would like. Depending on their answer, either rub the bowl with a cut clove of garlic and remove it, or leave it in the bowl and crush it with the anchovies.
7. Ask the customers how many anchovies, if any, they would like.
8. Mash the garlic and anchovies to a paste in the salad bowl.
9. Beat in about half the olive oil (4 fl oz/125 mL).
10. Add the greens and toss to coat with the oil mixture.
11. Break the egg over the bowl and drop it in. Toss the lettuce well.
12. Add the lemon juice, the rest of the oil, the parmesan cheese, and a little salt. Toss again until well mixed.
13. Add the croutons and toss a final time.
14. Plate and serve.
Here's just the Caesar dressing (again, scale down as needed!):
Ingredients:
Amount Unit Ingredient Preparation
25 each Anchovy fillets
2 tsp Crushed garlic
4 each Eggs, pasteurized
6 fl oz Lemon juice
2.5 cup Olive oil
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
to taste --- Salt
Procedure:
1. Mash the anchovies and garlic together to make a paste.
2. Place the eggs in the bowl of a mixer and whip with the whip attachment until well beaten.
3. Add the anchovy and garlic paste and half the lemon juice. Whip until well mixed.
4. With the mixer on high speed, slowly begin adding the oil, as when making mayonnaise.
5. When the dressing becomes thick, add a little of the remaining lemon juice.
6. Gradually beat in the rest of the oil alternating with the rest of the lemon juice.
erin, thank you! this recipe looks awesome. i can't wait to try it.
Hey Liz,
I make a fair amount of caesar dressing for myself, and I've taken a basic recipe from Ellie Kreiger and modified it to my tastes. I'll give you the basics of what I use, but I don't have exact measurements since I usually do it to taste.
1-2 garlic cloves pressed, depending on size
1 t or so of dijon mustard (I use Maille)
2T or so anchovy paste (can get it at Fresh Market and probably loads of other places - I love anchovy and use a lot of this)
2 T lemon juice
2-3 t (or more) worchestershire sauce
2 T olive oil
1/4 c egg substitute
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
salt and ground pepper to taste
I just beat it all up with a whisk, and usually serve it with romaine and some Fresh Market croutons - they're big and absorbent, which I like, but I know other people would prefer something else.
I usually make 2-3 batches of this at a time so that's why my portions of each ingredient are usually off. I really like it to be to tangy, so I load up on more garlic, lemon, and anchovy paste. I actually add a lot of worcestershire sauce too - just because I love all of those flavors. So I really have created some bastardized caesar dressing, I suppose, but I love its really strong, intense flavor. (My husband, on the other hand, still prefers bottled to what I make, so I don't have other ringing endorsements for it - but I get the sense you like strongly flavored stuff as much as I do.)
I really wish Bittman's How to Cook Everything was a better book. I've had lots and lots of problems with his recipes-- and I'm a fairly experienced cook. Things like braising with barely enough liquid (1/2 cup? I don't think so) to improper proportions. It's very weird; I've never understood its popularity. Erin's looks great-- I might have to try it.
Hmmmmm... I've made pretty much that exact same recipe, but with one egg and no mustard. I thought it was pretty great.
But Erin's recipe looks awesome. I feel the need to try this ASAP!
Another potential recipe to try for Grilled Caesar Salad:
Dressing: 1 anchovy, 1/2 garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 egg, 1 tbl lemon juice
Hearts of Romaine and shredded parmesan cheese (the good stuff from Krause's), and baguette
1. Toss anchovy, oil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste in food processor**. Then beat in egg and lemon and process till smooth.
**Before beating in egg/lemon juice - take this spread and put on baguette and then grill baguette.
2. Cut romaine in half and grill for 2 minutes on each side (at least).
3. Eat to your hearts content: 2 servings
thank you everyone! i have been doing more experimenting with your tips and i think i have a pretty good recipe now. i will post it on the blog.
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