Caesar Salad

[frogprincess]

What's your secret ingredent???

[mcdowell]

No secret, just don't skimp on the anchovies & garlic!!

[torakris]

lots of croutons and anchovies in both the dressing and in the salad itself.....

[Gifted Gourmet]

coddle your egg .... and use a top notch parmesan ....(drooling here)

now, when possible, using white anchovies!

[Squeat Mungry]

I am not in favor of anchovies in a Caesar's Salad. The original had no anchovies. It is said that a certain amount of anchovy flavor was brought to the dish by the Worcestershire sauce.

Oh, and use coddled eggs!

Cheers,

Squeat

[Marlene]

Very little anchovy. In fact I use a touch of anchovy paste rather than the real thing. (ick). And I've never coddled an egg in my life (possibly because I don't know how ). But I make one of the best Caesar Salads around. (Really).

[SiseFromm]

I don't make the dressing with straight olive oil. I find, even with milder olive oils, that it can overwhelm the rest of the ingredients. I use a mix typically of 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 grapeseed oil. A touch of anchovy paste will do wonders. I tend to skip the anchovies all together because the average citizen doesn't want to bite into whole ones anyway. Fresh made sourdough croutons (never over-toasted) and lots of shaved parmesan cheese (old and high quality). Caesars, as with most things obviously, are best when the best ingredients are used. There aren't very many ingredients in a good Caesar so make sure everything you put in will help make the final product shine.

[Marlene]

I actually gave up using olive oil and now use regular canola oil. Garlic croutons for me, and the croutons and the bacon bits MUST be homemade.

[snowangel]

Garlic croutons for me, and the croutons and the bacon bits MUST be homemade.

Word.

And, if the other folks don't like anchovies, poor them. More for me.

Best I make is in the spring or late fall when I can dash out to the garden and pick heads of young romaine. I tuck the seeds inbetween other plants so they are shaded and grow nice and tender and sweet.

[HungryChris]

Now this is one of my favorite subjects!!!!!

There are a few things that must be right here. The romain must be flawless and not smell of bolt. If you smell a bolting romain head, you will know what I mean.

The egg must be fresh ( I go to my sisters house and watch the hens).

The romano cheese must be freshly grated. The anchovies must be mashed into a paste so that they dissapear into the dressing. The croutons must be still hot from the saute pan and they must have fresh thyme, garlick, evoo and paprika of the utmost quality. OMG how I love this dish! I made it with TJ's marinated shrimp the other day and it was killer.

[Larry]

I like to substitute about a tablespoon of lime juice for the called for amount of lemon juice. It just makes it a bit different, the type of thing you just can't put your finger on when you taste it.

[Katherine]

I actually gave up using olive oil and now use regular canola oil. Garlic croutons for me, and the croutons and the bacon bits MUST be homemade.

Bacon bits in caesar salad? Doesn't that make it...something else?

[marie-louise]

This Fine Cooking recipe is good-their secret is a morter and pestle to pound the garlic & anchovies into a paste. This is a thick, mayo-type dressing.

I'm also fond of the plain version from one of the Julia Child cookbooks-the secret of that one is toss the lettuce first w/ the oil, then the lemon juice, etc... This is good for those times you don't want a heavy, anchovy-flavored mayonnaise dressing.

I like both kinds.

[Mayhaw Man]

I was a resident of this bizarre hotel in Tecate, BC, MX for almost two years. I ate dinner in a completely empty dining room a couple of nights a week and used to enjoy ordering a Ceasar Salad when I had guests in for the evening (I was building a brewery and there were lots of contract workers in for a day or two). This was prepared table side with great ceremony and supposedly was EXACTLY the way that Pierre Cardini prepared it in Tijuana in the Thirties (supposedly he was the guy who invented the salad). The salad was prepared with a ton of rediculous but entertaining flourish and contained fresh garlic (used to flavor the oil), cold, dried heart of romaine leaves, fresh ground pepper, a dash of salt, imported olive oil, fresh lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce (where the anchovy flavor came from), coddled egg, homemade croutons and Parmesan cheese. It was really good and the tableside thing was always fun.

The hotel itself often reminded me of the scenes in The Shining where Jack Nicholson would go in and enjoy a cocktail with Lloyd, the ghost bartender. I would walk into this unbelievably elaborate dining room, loung, piano bar (complete with piano and Hammond B-3 organ played by a very talented guy from Mexicali several nights a week) and be greeted by a bartender in a bowtie who would make fabulous and elaborately prepared cocktails for my drinking enjoyment. I could order anything on the menu (check it out on the website) and it would soon arrive at my table. The food was always fresh (don't ask me how) and the fish, in particular, was always great. I never could figure out how they did it, considering on the weekdays I was often the only guest (on the weekends the place is usually packed with guests of the various weddings that were held there-they were great fun and everyone always went out of their way to make me a honored guest as I was generally the "gringo in residence" and I didn't mind being made fun of as long as I got to eat all of the great sweets that invariably came along with a weekend long wedding).

[Marlene]

I like to substitute about a tablespoon of lime juice for the called for amount of lemon juice. It just makes it a bit different, the type of thing you just can't put your finger on when you taste it.

I use both lemon and lime juice

[hillvalley]

Rub your wooden salad bowl with smashed garlic. Keep in bowl as you prepare the dressing, removing right before you add the lettuce.

[bleudauvergne]

I was a resident of this bizarre hotel in Tecate, BC, MX for almost two years...

Mayhaw Man! What a great story! I love to hear about your experiences.

The other day I went out to get a large wooden salad bowl, for the very reason that I wanted to prepare my cesear dressing in the bowl at the table. I got it home, and while washing it, I saw a very unobtrusive clear label, which had not been visible to me at the store, that said: Dry foods only.

ARRRGH! Does this mean there's some poisonous chemical in the bowl that could be leeched out by wet foods? I think I'm going to write to the distributer and see if I can get to the bottom of this, because I just love a salad in a garlic rubbed wooden bowl.

I think that it's really important to take the time to make the croutons yourself, and to use fresh grated parmesean and lots of it.

[mjc]

this is allegedly the original ceasar recipe in the La times here. (It will probably be gone by next week)

[Marlene]

This is the recipe I use now all the time. I used to make it in the blender, but I found I continually had consistency problems. Using my hand mixer or immersion blender seems to have solved the problem.

At least for me

[frogprincess]

Instead of egg and oil I use and to it I add: Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, fresh squeezed lemon juice, black pepper, anchovy paste and garlic. I then toss chopped romaine hearts w/ the dressing, croutons, and parmesan cheese.

I have never made my own croutons, but it's something I would like to try....

Thanks for some of the suggestions, I'll definitelybe trying a few out

Edited March 11, 2004 by frogprincess (log)

[bloviatrix]

This is the recipe I use now all the time. I used to make it in the blender, but I found I continually had consistency problems. Using my hand mixer or immersion blender seems to have solved the problem.

At least for me

I wish I saw this before I made dinner. I had a hankering for a caesar salad with flaked baked salmon. I'll have to remember this for next time.

[MetsFan5]

Reviving this thread as I have romaine and want to grill it then dress it with a homemade dressing. 
I have: 

anchovy paste, Worcestershire, a hunk of good Parmesan, lemons, light extra virgin olive oil, regular olive oil, canola oil, garlic and fresh eggs. Any oil preferences? 
 

  I also want to use my stick blender. Do I just use egg yokes? Can I toss everything in and just blend it? I mean I’ve never even made mayo. 
 

Thanks in advance. I’d like to get this going soon. I’ve cobbled together a bunch of recipes to get a sense but some call for roasting garlic which, while it may be good , will take too long. I’m looking to make a dressing the way some steakhouses do tableside. 

Oh and I have Dijon as well. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by MetsFan5 (log)

[gfweb]

@MetsFan5 Steakhouse at the table typically rubs the garlic on a slightly rough wooden bowl. you could mince it finely

 

Stick blender is ok, but don't over blend it into thick mayo.

 

I'd say just yolks...olive oil...a little dijon, anchovy paste and worcestershire.

 

Sauce would probably improve by resting for 20 min or so.

[heidih]

agreed with @gfweb it is a tossed salad not  homogenized dressing thing. Plus tableside you are in a convivial mood, possibly cocktailed, and everything tastes special ;

[weinoo]

Use the olive oil.

The egg should be coddled.

The anchovy paste should be...well...thrown out, and real anchovies used. Garlic as mr. web says above...and not roasted, but rubbed. I don't recall mustard being in a classic Caesar.

Nothing wrong with making it as a dressing, and pouring it over your greens.

 

What's missing? Croutons!

 

Even Bittman has a usable recipe...https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013104-classic-caesar-salad