It is NOT hard to make excellent Caesar Salad! The big secrets to making it “pop” are anchovies, good fresh crisp romaine, and properly emulsified dressing. The other ingredients are important too… but those three are where most people take shortcuts that make the result fall short.
A great accompaniment to a special meal. Or it can be a meal in itself!
Feel free to include wild meat, provided it is naturally tender or If using a preparation that produces a tender result. Venison tenderloin, or braised gamebird thigh for instance.
Feel free to include wild meat, provided it is naturally tender or If using a preparation that produces a tender result. Venison tenderloin, or braised gamebird thigh for instance.
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side salads, or half that many as main dish.
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Ingredients
Salad
- 1 large head FRESH romaine lettuce — substitute 2 hearts if full heads unavailable. Limp, wilting or browned = FAIL.
- 1 tsp paprika — this is more for color than taste, but smoked paprika might be interesting
- 3 cups seasoned croutons — Homemade will get you extra points, especially if you use sourdough bread. But honestly, storebought croutons are pretty good.
- To Taste Tabasco — Go easy if you prefer, but don't completely skip it. Substitutions OK if they are vinegary type.
- To Taste fresh ground black pepper
- To taste kosher salt
- Optional block Parmesan — Shave on top after plating. Makes a nice presentation, but ok to skip.
- 1 lb optional meat — 1 lb tender sliced wild meat. Nothing chewy.
Dressing
- 2 egg yolks — Raw eggs are vaguely risky - pasteurized eggs are safe. Hard to find but make your own: Sous vide au-naturel (no bag) 135F for 35 minutes then ice bath.
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 8 filets anchovy packed in oil — Those funny looking little cans near the canned tuna. Drained. NO it will NOT make your salad taste fishy. This is a key ingredient, DO NOT skip it.
- 2 cloves garlic — half that for the faint of heart, double for those who appreciate a sharp garlic "bite".
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice. — Remove seeds. 1 lemon should do it. Reserve any extra for "to taste" adjustment at end.
- 1 zest from whole lemon — What? You don't have a zester? They cost like three bucks. Suck it up. Throwing away un-zested lemons is a sin.
- 1/2 cup grated dried parmesan — Reserve half for the tossing step.
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Ingredients
Salad
Dressing
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Instructions
Dressing
- Combine yolks, mustard, anchovies, garlic (chopped a bit first), Worcestershire, lemon juice and zest, and half the parmesan in a container that just fits the head of an immersion blender, or in the bottom of the mini-chopper attachment of a food processor.
- With blender running, slowly drizzle in first olive oil then vegetable oil to form a smooth emulsion. Most processors have a little hole in the lid specifically designed to slowly drizzle oil into the mix for proper emulsification.
- Transfer mixture to a small bowl.
- Season to taste with salt & pepper.
- Move to fridge. If well chilled a few hours or even a day ahead is fine.
Salad
- Rinse romaine leaves in cold water. Soak in a sink a few minutes if they are not already super crisp. Blot dry, roll up in paper towels and stage in the fridge about an hour.
The remaining steps go quickly and should be performed just before serving. Caesar Salad does not "rest" well. - Tear the romaine into the bowl by hand. Extra points if you use a large wooden bowl, wiping the interior with a cut garlic clove first.
- Pour dressing over the romaine and toss.
- Add paprika and remaining parmesan. Toss well.
- To taste, add coarse grind black pepper, a few dashes of tabasco, salt and lemon juice. Quick Toss.
- Add croutons, Quick toss,
- Add optional meat. Some prefer it warm, some chilled. Either toss in bowl, or arrange on top of plated salad.
- Optional: Shave some solid parmesan on top. You don't really need more parmesan flavor but it looks fancy as hell.
- Optional: If you have anchovy filets left over, offer them on the side for those who like that sort of thing. None for me, thanks.
- Serve immediately. Have a pepper grinder and an ice cold bottle of crisp sweek white wine close at hand. A nice German Riesling, Kabinett or Spatlese perhaps.
Recipe Notes
View online at KillerNoms.com/caesar
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