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caesar dressing


hollis

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o.k. i know it's not rocket science but can anyone share a really good caesar salad dressing recipe with me? i'm looking forward to getting away from the jarred variety. thanks in advance.

signed,

hollis aka newtothekitchen

Edited by hollis (log)
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Yep no reason to ever use bottled. It's really easy to make.

Rather than exact I always tell people to play.

Start with

A Blender

1 Clove Garlic

2 Egg Yolks or a small box of egg beaters also works ok

Lemon juice or vinegar your choice

Either anchovie paste or about 1/2 can of anchovies

--Edited -- That would be half of a 2 oz can of cento anchovies --

2 tsp mustard -- I use spicy brown

Shot of hot sauce ( I use chili paste ) your choice again

Shot of worsteshire optional

Grated Parmesan (A good hand full) or just break a piece off of a block and let

the blender do the work

A light tasting Olive or Canola or Rapeseed oil drizzle it in until you have creamy sauce.

Just play with it, if you like more Garlic add more, if you don't like hot sauce use pepper etc... There are recipes out there all over the place, it's basically up to you to play with it until it's "yours"

Once you have got this down, then change it up and make it into a creamy Italian. Kill the anchovies add herbs, kill the Lemon juice add red wine vinegar.

Edited by irodguy (log)

Never trust a skinny chef

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Either anchovie paste or about 1/2 can of anchovies

Better to say what size can. I buy mine in a 13 ounce can. That would be a whole lot a fish. :smile:

Tobin

It is all about respect; for the ingredient, for the process, for each other, for the profession.

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The following isn't, strictly speaking, a caesar dressing but it is inspired by the classic and to my mouth is an improvement. There's no egg white and the dressing isn't white or creamy. The recipe was passed down to me by jayp51.

In a bowl, ideally a wooden one, put a tablespoon of salt and about a third of a tablespoon of pepper, a pinch each of paprika and mustard powder and one large or two small cloves of garlic. Mash all of this into a paste with the back of a fork. Add one or two anchovies and a dash of Worcester sauce and mash into the paste. Squeeze half a lemon and pour in roughly an equal amount of sherry vinegar to the lemon juice. Mix, still using just a fork. Add good quality olive oil, about equal to the amount of liquid that is now in the bowl, maybe half again as much. Mix together, taste and adjust acid and/or salt as necessary.

You shouldn't eat grouse and woodcock, venison, a quail and dove pate, abalone and oysters, caviar, calf sweetbreads, kidneys, liver, and ducks all during the same week with several cases of wine. That's a health tip.

Jim Harrison from "Off to the Side"

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at home i make the classic caesar ala Julia Child-doesn't work in a restaurant environment unless doing tableside service obviously.

garlic

coddled egg

lemon jiuce

splash of vinegar(my addition, sorry)

Worcesershire sauce

evo

s&p

reggiano

hearts of romaine

crouton

Not the mayo, gluey dressing served in most houses. Clean and to the point.

hth, danny

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When I'm lacking anchovies, I use a dash of fish sauce. I've also been known to use a spot of dijon mustard for improved emulsification.

I make Caesar Salad fairly often for the family, and add some grilled chicken to make it a complete meal. My 10-yr-old SD was out to dinner with friends and ordered caesar salad. When she got home, she reported her dismay that it wasn't a "real" caesar salad. There wasn't any chicken. :wacko:

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This one was passed along to me by a friend. It's easy and delicious!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Caesar Salad Dressing (little Debbie's)

Recipe By :

Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Salads and Dressings

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

4 cloves garlic -- or less, to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard -- or less, to taste

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper -- freshly ground

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

6 Anchovy fillets -- drained and chopped, optional

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine chopped garlic, salad oil, salt, mustard, vinegar, pepper, Worcestershire and anchovies. Shake well and refrigerate several hours.

NOTE: I always sub anchovy paste as it is easy to keep a tube in the fridge.

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Rick Bayless of Chicago's Frontera Grill does a version of Caesar but substitutes:

Lime juice for lemon, ancho chili powder for black pepper, and dry aged Monterrey Jack cheese for a different Mexican flavour (yes I know, the original Caesar was of Mexican origin).

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This summer have been pigging out on Caesar salad.

Did post my dressing recipe at

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41922&st=32

Note: FG, Jason, in these URLs, I do NOT understand the keywords after the '?'. So, what would be the URL of a specific post?

My mixture is fairly traditional except I am using red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice (convenience) and adding dried flakes of parsley, basil, and oregano (for whatever they might add). Thyme would be more traditional, but my supply of dried thyme leaves is low.

For the cheese I've been using (freshly, of course) grated (not the recently stylish shreds or thin slices) Pecorino Romano (yes, from Italy) but have gotten a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano (first in a few years) and intend to try it. I just sprinkle the cheese over the lettuce after tossing with the dressing and do not include the cheese in the dressing.

In the salad I include some croutons from a bag from the grocery store. These do have quite a lot of flavor, but the flavor does not go really well with the Caesar salad, and the croutons are too crunchy for me. I've made better croutons, but the store bought ones are much more convenient.

There is no joke that the flavors here stand up to be noticed. This isn't baby food; my complaint with the bottled versions of Caesar dressing in the grocery store was that they were baby food. In particular, for the anchovies, I suspect that one day when they were making 400 million gallons of their genuine authentic Caesar dressing, with the salad oil being pumped directly from a supertanker through a hose with inside diameter 18", they took one 2 ounce can of anchovies, quickly waved the can, unopened, in the air a few miles from the plant, and concluded from 'social scientists' doing focus groups with various species of rodents that they had sufficient anchovy flavor.

With my dressing, just the empty salad bowl after eating the salad and in the kitchen waiting to be washed can be fragrant enough to change the whole kitchen to a 'bistro' experience!

Following some old recommendations, I am including eggs boiled for only 10 seconds. The 10 seconds likely at most just helps cut down on any bacteria on the outside of the shell.

So, bacteria inside an egg could still be dangerous. At

http://www.aeb.org/safety/egg_handling_questions.html

can see discussions of dangers from such uncooked eggs. So far I have not had any bad symptoms from using such raw eggs, but there is a danger. You will have to make your own decision. It's a serious decision; an infection could be serious.

For the anchovies, I went shopping and about all I saw were cans with net weight of 2 ounces of flat anchovies packed in oil from Morocco. So, that's what I've been using. My old supply of anchovies had brand name Reese with a nice complex flavor. I bought a new supply with assorted brands (couldn't find Reese again), and the brand I like best so far is Crown Prince I got at Sam's Club. The difference: Some of the brands taste like little fish fillets that are trying not to offend people that don't like strong flavors; the brands I like have a strong complex (but not actually 'fishy') flavor.

I do include the oil from the can in the dressing, and I do mince the anchovies.

For the lettuce, I have been buying the bags of 6 heads of Romaine at Sam's Club. I rinse the leaves, tear them, spin them dry in my salad spinner, and, to get them crisp, let them chill uncovered for a few hours in the refrigerator. If after a few hours I have not yet used the leaves, then I put them sealed in a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag in the refrigerator. This bag seems to make and/or keep the pieces nicely crisp.

I've been making a Caesar salad I can have for dinner -- just the salad for the whole dinner. So, I have been putting a lot into the salad including chunks of tomato, pepperoni, imitation bacon bits, scallion rings, etc.

But, a traditional Caesar salad with lemon juice for the acid, homemade croutons, and no onion, bacon bits, or tomato can be terrific from being simpler but still striking.

What would be the right food and wine to go with

R. Strauss's 'Ein Heldenleben'?

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at home i make the classic caesar ala Julia Child-doesn't work in a restaurant environment unless doing tableside service obviously.

garlic

coddled egg

lemon jiuce

splash of vinegar(my addition, sorry)

Worcesershire sauce

evo

s&p

reggiano

hearts of romaine

crouton

Not the mayo, gluey dressing served in most houses. Clean and to the point.

hth, danny

When you say coddled egg do you mean an egg cooked in a coddler...or a partially cooked egg (in the shell)?

Chef/Owner/Teacher

Website: Chef Fowke dot com

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coddled egg=1 minute at a simmer in the shell. A suprisingly light and very different dressing than what it has evolved into and which most people identify with. It must be made a la minute though-can't let the egg cool too much or let it overcook.

FWIW this is the original as witnessed by Julia Child in TJ many moons ago. I deviate with a splash of good red wine or sherry vin to bring the acid component up and not overdo the lemon.

hth, danny

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From these posts I can't tell if the method I learned is old hat or new to the crowd:

When I was Garde Manger many years ago I was told to whisk up an eggyolk in one of those giant steel bowls, put half a head of torn romaine in and toss until coated. Add a dash or three of Worcestershire, the juice of half a lemon, grate a reasonable amount of parm (probably an ounce) from this huge brick we had, throw in small handful of house-made croutons. Toss again til coated. Plate at once, apply three anchovy in a star pattern on top, fresh ground pepper at table.

I might have missed something but I think that was it. the one-minute caeser. :smile:

Anyone?

Edited by johnnyd (log)

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

Portland Food Map.com

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From these posts I can't tell if the method I learned is old hat or new to the crowd:

I've made it this way for 35 years. I have been known to use some tobasco.

I'm on my 2nd wooden bowl,but my original fork and spoon that is curved past

the factory specs,by me,on purpose still survives.

I take 2 large garlic clove,2 anchovi fillets and a few pinches of sea salt and

grind to a paste with my fork and spoon....one handed operation....one crushes

the other cuts, works well.Add an egg yolk,dry mustard and work into the mass.Equal parts lemon and red wine vinegar,some worchestershire and drizzle

in the olive oil and grated parm.Tumble in some romaine hearts,homemade

croutons,more parm......for 2 people.

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coddled egg=1 minute at a simmer in the shell. A suprisingly light and very different dressing than what it has evolved into and which most people identify with. It must be made a la minute though-can't let the egg cool too much or let it overcook.

  FWIW this is the original as witnessed by Julia Child in TJ many moons ago. I deviate with a splash of good red wine or sherry vin to bring the acid component up and not overdo the lemon.

hth, danny

Not to take this thread to far off on a tangent;

I have heard of coddled eggs before, but they were always made in a coddler. You cracked the eggs into the device and placed it in boiling water (it came out looking like a cross between a poached and soft-boiled egg).

I am just curious about the name usage, coddled, rather than the technique.

More information can be found at one of my favourite sites: Egg Coddler's Dot Com

Chef/Owner/Teacher

Website: Chef Fowke dot com

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From these posts I can't tell if the method I learned is old hat or new to the crowd:

I've made it this way for 35 years. I have been known to use some tobasco.

I'm on my 2nd wooden bowl,but my original fork and spoon that is curved past

the factory specs,by me,on purpose still survives.

I take 2 large garlic clove,2 anchovi fillets and a few pinches of sea salt and

grind to a paste with my fork and spoon....one handed operation....one crushes

the other cuts, works well.Add an egg yolk,dry mustard and work into the mass.Equal parts lemon and red wine vinegar,some worchestershire and drizzle

in the olive oil and grated parm.Tumble in some romaine hearts,homemade

croutons,more parm......for 2 people.

The difference still is that my method sees the romaine in the bowl with egg only, then toss to coat. The reasoning was that if the romaine was properly coated with egg yolk, everything you put in afterwards sticks to the coated greens better. The dressing is deconstructed into stages per ingredient, or, in effect, one makes the dressing around the greens instead of puting the greens in a finished mixture. It's crazy I guess. I like your ingredients - trying it soon.

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

Portland Food Map.com

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It appears that, although we have different methods, the ingredients are essentially the same. I find the dressing adheres just fine to the lettuce leaves using my method. Egg? Yes, the full recipe for my salad suggests an egg as an optional ingredient. I personally don't find it adds much.

I just love Caesar salad!

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On "coddling"...

IIRC, both my (new) Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything recommend "coddling" the egg by pricking it with a pin and boiling it for about a minute, in their recipes for Caesar Salad. I made it a few weeks ago -- I think from the Bittman book -- and my dad coddled the eggs for me (he likes to help cook) -- he didn't fuck it up, so I'd guess that it's a foolproof method not requiring specialized equipment.

I don't know what a "coddling device" would look like, but I can imagine it's just to help the egg keep a certain shape, which doesn't matter at all if you're going to make a dressing with it.

EDIT: Whoah. Now I know what an egg coddler looks like. Props to Chef Fowke for that cool-ass link. Here are the photos of a bunch of coddlers from that site. So now I wonder.. what is the purpose of the hole you're supposed to punch in the egg shell? Just what in hell does the egg coddler actually do?

What is the purpose of the coddling, though? Does it help thicken the dressing? Or is it just to alleviate concerns over using raw eggs?

Edited by bleachboy (log)

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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I just cannot not post a reply to caesar dressing whether it is pertainent or not. I once heard a chef say they had to have all the ingredients for the dressing at the same, teped temperature before the salad could be made correctly. And another said you cannot have a caeser salad unless it is tossed table-side. Alton Brown said the garlic in the salad comes from the croutons being cooking in garlic oil, and I had a boss who told me the romain leaves have to be almost too big to fit into your mouth. :wacko:

"He could blanch anything in the fryolator and finish it in the microwave or under the salamander. Talented guy."

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I have no idea how I learned to make mine, I assume my mother taught me. I think I was 8 or 9.

Take a deep wooden bowl and rub with cut garlic. Mince garlic and mix with an egg, lemon juice, s&p, evoo and a touch of dijon mustard. If my sister wasn't joining us I added minced anchovies to the dressing. Top with croutons and a sh$# load of parm or reggiano.

Gonna have to get some Romain at market this week.

True Heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.

It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,

but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. -Arthur Ashe

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I find this thread very interesting, but I think we are missing a key element...the procurement of the core elements.

The recipe is key, the presentation and preparation matter.

But in the end, are we talking apples to apples?

I was lucky enough to train in France. I am over-joyed to be a Chef in Canada....but I can tell you the base ingredients are different in every region of the world! Garlic tastes different. In France it had a purple vein and was sweeter. In Ontario it had an apple nuisance...on the West Coast it is spicier/hotter.

These are all factors in producing a great Caesar Salad!

In Vancouver I would add a little Sherry vinegar to sweeten the emulsify. In France White Wine Vinegar would have sufficient.

Hard to pick the perfect recipe....I thing it is highly regional.

...just my thoughts.

Chef/Owner/Teacher

Website: Chef Fowke dot com

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This is my best-- fast and easy! Use a food processor- in the blender it just doesn't turn out as well.

3 large cloves garlic

1 can anchovy fillet, drained

1/4 cup FRESH lemon juice (this is the part that makes it so good)

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 Tsp worcestershire

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese

First chop galic in food processor, then add anchovies and chop again. Add lemon juice, mustard and worcestershire and blend again. Add oil in thin stream with processor running. Then blend in cheese. This is enough for a large salad.

I get rave reviews every time we serve it!

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Flipping this to an industry recipe....

Try seasoning the dressing with chicken stock powder (no MSG). A lot of big chain restaurant do this to boast the flavour. It is amazing how BIG the dressing becomes.

At this time I cannot figure out how to do this natural, ie using real chicken stock, but when I have an answer I will post.

Chef/Owner/Teacher

Website: Chef Fowke dot com

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By the way, I tried Marlene's recipe this weekend and I think it's a keeper. My wife was in charge of salad, and I think we both agreed that you want not just a "squeeze" of anchovy paste, but a "big squeeze". I had made the croutons the night before and sauteed them in garlic oil. I might not bother with this step the next time (doing the garlic in the oil) as the dressing was plenty garlicky on its own.

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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