Caesar Salad
If you have only had Caesar salad with dressing from a bottle, try this one and you will be amazed by the difference in quality. The original Caesar Salad was made in Tijuana for Hollywood visitors. It is absolutely essential to get the romaine bone-dry for the best salad. Prepare and refrigerate the lettuce at least 2 hours before serving, preferably more.
If you have only had Caesar salad with dressing from a bottle, try this one and you will be amazed by the difference in quality. The original Caesar Salad was made in Tijuana for Hollywood visitors. It is absolutely essential to get the romaine bone-dry for the best salad. Prepare and refrigerate the lettuce at least 2 hours before serving, preferably more.
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 head romaine
- for the dressing
- 1 can anchovies
- 1/2 whole lemon squeezed
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 handful croutons i prefer pepperidge farm
- 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese grated
- Carbohydrate 22.5021539170919 g
- Cholesterol 66.9325000002948 mg
- Fat 10.4798406272101 g
- Fiber 8.10749967302157 g
- Protein 11.1777258121906 g
- Saturated Fat 2.32082906282664 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (388g)
- Sodium 311.626099937372 mg
- Sugar 14.3946542440703 g
- Trans Fat 0.816566562568664 g
- Calories 215 calories
Step-by-step
- Wash and dry lettuce carefully. I strongly recommend wrapping the torn lettuce in a generous amount of paper towels and chilling in the fridge for at least 1 1/2 hours. I have found that getting truly chilled, crisp, and bone-DRY lettuce is the key to a great Caesar Salad, almost as much as the dressing itself.
- Crush the garlic and anchovies together until they are a fine paste. Whisk in other ingredients rapidly. Toss salad, shave parmesean cheese and add croutons at the last minute do not let lettuce sit with dressing on it or it will wilt.
- Season with ground pepper to taste.
Chilling the torn romaine lettuce wrapped in paper towels for at least ninety minutes determines whether the leaves hold their crunch or collapse. Moisture on the leaves repels oil-based emulsions, causing the dressing to pool at the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the greens.
Emulsifying the dressing requires crushing the garlic cloves and anchovy fillets together into a cohesive paste before whisking in the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, raw egg yolk, and Dijon mustard. This mechanical breakdown creates a stable suspension that coats each leaf evenly. Never add the grated Parmesan cheese or croutons until the final mixing stage. Storing dressed greens causes the salt to draw moisture from the leaves within two minutes, destroying the required structural rigidity.
Adjusting the acid balance is simple if the lemon juice is underripe. Substitute white wine vinegar at a one-to-one ratio for half the lemon juice to sharpen the finish without adding unwanted sweetness.
