Monday, June 7, 2010

Restaurant Quality Caesar Salad, Complete with Croutons and Dressing

My Romaine Lettuce was fully grown and ready to harvest. I had raw Parmesan cheese from the organic market. Nothing left but to develop a Caesar Salad worthy of my high quality ingredients. Thank goodness for a quiet, rainy Sunday when there’s recipe development to be done.

If you are on the Core Plan, your crouton options include whole grain bread. Just toast it and rub it with fresh cut garlic, then slice it into cubes. If you are on the Advanced Plan, you do not have the bread option, but the crouton substitutions are easy. One option is to use whole raw walnuts or pecans for croutons. We used Parmesan Tuiles (a kind of cookie) broken into pieces once cooled. There are many ways to make the tuiles, but the method below allows make-ahead preparation.

The salad is so delicious, the crouton question will not be an issue. The recipe will serve 4, so make a party of it.
Enjoy.

Parmesan Tuiles

Ingredients:
1 cup freshly grated raw or imported Italian Parmesan Cheese. For best results, grate with a micro-plane or other grater that produces a fine grate.
Yield: 4 to 5 tuiles
(If you have lots of raw Parmesan on hand, you may want to double this amount.)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. For each tuile, spread 3 tablespoons of the grated cheese on the paper to form a 3-inch round.

Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool for 1 minute.

Using a metal spatula, transfer the tuiles to another piece of parchment paper and cool completely. Use immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours. For the Caesar Salad “croutons,” break cooled tuiles into bit sized pieces.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, then smashed and minced, or grated with a micro-plane
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (plus more to taste if desired)
4 ounces raw or Imported Italian Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon anchovy paste, or 1-2 anchovies, smashed and minced
2 egg yolks
freshly ground black pepper (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
Note: Anchovy Paste is widely available in grocery stores and specialty markets. Be sure to check the label, though, because some anchovy paste products contain canola oil. You don't want that.

Preparation:
In the salad bowl, whisk together the olive oil and garlic. Let this mixture stand for half an hour to infuse the olive oil with the garlic flavor.
Add anchovies and egg yolks to the oil and garlic mixture. Whisk until creamy. Add salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Whisk in half of the Parmesan cheese. Taste, add more lemon juice to taste. The lemon should give an edge to the dressing, but not overwhelm it.
Add torn Romaine Lettuce (approximately 1 or 2 large, or 3 small heads) and toss to coat the lettuce leaves with the dressing. Add the Parmesan Tuile “croutons” and the remainder of the Parmesan Cheese, and toss to serve.

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