|
"to die for", this is probably the way they made it.
If they compiled their Caesar in a way other than that
detailed below, this is better! Okay, okay, when it comes to Italian
recipes, we tend to potentially overstate at times. But Caesar dressing made
in a "wooden" salad bowl, with all natural ingredients that have not been
"blender touched", are going to make a fresher, brighter dressing for your
romaine or salad green combination, guaranteed.
How about some homemade Caesar croutons with it? Well, now
you're talking! And, guess what? Your dinner guests will love the
preparation and the presentation.
Are you like us? Do your dinner guests, invariably, gather
in the kitchen? Good! You're going to dazzle them with this one.
Here's how you make authentic (and exceptionally delicious)
Caesar salad dressing, and the related gourmet "fixins".
New Italian Recipes Presents:
Authentic Caesar Salad Dressing
Homemade Italian Croutons:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice up a day old loaf of French bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch
cubes. (You can use regular bread if that is all you have). But, if you
make your own bread, that is even better! Toss bread in mixture of 3 T.
melted butter, 2-3 finely diced garlic cloves, 2 T of dried basil and 2 T of
dried thyme.
Spread evenly on baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes,
until browned but not over crusted.
Dressing Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1/3 cup or so of good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Note: Amount may very due to individual tastes. Remember, folks, this is
gourmet cooking. (Taste and adjust, taste and adjust. This process is
impressive to your guests, as well.)
8 anchovy fillets, chopped
Note: We usually use the kind that come in the jar packed in oil. That way,
if you don't use them all, you can just leave the remainder in the
refrigerator until you need them. Probably very soon, in our case.
1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard or 1 t Dijon (optional) (We usually leave this out,
but to some it adds to the dressing.)
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes (oil packed), chopped finely
Freshly ground pepper, to your own taste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 "coddled" Egg (1 minute in boiling water, then cooled, peeled and added in
entirety)
The Rest:
1 head Romaine Lettuce, leaves torn into edible pieces (If you tear the
leaves away from the stems, and then discard the stem pieces, you will need
to add more salad leaves to this amount of dressing). (We occasionally use
mixed green salad because it's good and the stems are tender and very
edible!) A
salad spinner makes washing the lettuce a whole lot easier.
Homemade Italian croutons
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Preparation:
Wash, tear and drain the lettuce.
In a large wooden salad bowl, mash the garlic with a fork or
pestle.
Add chopped anchovy fillets, Worcestershire, mustard
(optional), sun-dried tomato, lemon juice, and coddled egg.
Note: A coddled egg is a raw egg that has been boiled for about 1 minute to
reduce the risk of botulism or some other contamination. If your eggs are
fresh, the chances are "infinitesimally" small of contamination but we
perform this step just to be as safe as possible).
Blend with garlic, mash the anchovies really well, then
swirl all of this around the sides of the bowl until it is "coated".
Mix in the olive oil, sparingly, with a fork until it is
well incorporated. The dressing should appear "creamy". Taste it to see if
you have added just the right amount of olive oil. (You'll know.)
Add the romaine, then the croutons and cheese. Toss it all
well to combine with the "blissful" Caesar dressing.
You can make the dressing in a blender, of course, if you
just don't want to go to this trouble, but that just does not fit the
atmosphere, nor will it be as good. If you mix it in a blender, at least
have a good one like the
bar quality Waring we use.
But, always remember, you are a gourmet cook. Make the
preparation a presentation and make frozen boat drinks in your Waring
blender.
Homemade authentic Caesar salad dressing, just like
the 'Pros" make it at your favorite gourmet Italian restaurant, (hopefully).
Bless you for striving to be a gourmet cook. It's a life that never gets
boring!
Buon appetito always!
Brought to you with love from
Aunt Aletha and Dear Old Dave
Printer
Friendly Version Of Caesar Salad Dressing
Home - More Recipes
Back To Antipasti Home Page
Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
|
