The word Authentic seems to be the latest buzzword out in the food world right now, you know, right after organic and all natural. You see this word all over the labels right now and I can only imagine they are referring to taste because the list of ingredients reads much the same as the product right next to it.
In my mind authentic means traditional, original or basic. This week I wanted to try to make an “authentic” meal. A dish that has become extremely popular as a side dish and as a meal would be my next venture. It’s time to make a Caesar Salad.
Up until this point the way I made Caesar Salad was with some Romaine, Parmesan and a bottle of “Caesar” dressing. There are countless varieties out there so finding a suitable replacement for ones favorite is not an easy task. After looking over the net and cookbooks there were many to choose from so where does one start. I wanted to make an authentic Caesar so I first started out with what constitutes a Caesar from the rest of the other salads. The answer was pretty easy to come by. The bottom line when making a Caesar salad is five ingredients; Garlic, egg, lemon juice, anchovies and REAL Parmesan. That seems easy enough so let’s run through how to make an authentic, basic Caesar salad. To make this an entree and not just a side were going to add a chicken breast atop our salad when finished made popular by American chain restaurants. Here’s what you’ll need for a dinner for 2;
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 eggs
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 5 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs minced anchovies or ½ tbs anchovy paste
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and Fresh ground black pepper
- Head of Romaine lettuce
- Croutons if desired
- 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- A few large pieces of shaved Asiago cheese
Directions:
Start boiling a few cup of water or enough to cover 2 eggs. I then start cooking the chicken breasts then make the dressing while they are cooking. I like cooking my chicken in my cast iron pan (uncovered then covered). I start out on high heat, adding about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. I slice one clove of garlic and add to the oil. Upon the garlic turning brown I add the chicken breast to the pan and sear each side. I then turn down the heat to medium low and cover. When the dressing is finished I add about a half of a cup to the chicken and let it simmer in with it.
For the dressing, poke a pinhole in the broad side of the egg with a needle and place in the boiling water. Cook for 1 minute then remove from heat. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the inside of the salad bowl. Crack the egg and place in salad bowl. Scrape the inside of the egg with a spoon to get out all the egg white. Whisk the egg with a spoon then start to slowly wisk in the lemon juice and then the oil. Stir in the anchovies and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Add a good amount of pepper and taste. At this stage in the game the Caesar is going to taste fishy and “dull”. There’s not a lot of kick but don’t worry yet just get an idea of your salt level. Anchovies and Parmesan (which hasn’t been added yet) are very salty and salt may not be needed here. I found I needed a few pinches of sea salt but use your own taste.
At this point you are supposed to add your lettuce, croutons and Parmesan but it looked as though I had too much liquid. I put the dressing in a separate bowl and added it to the Romaine instead of the other way round. I found I used just a bit over half and that was sufficient. Toss the grated Parmesan, Romaine and croutons as well as some crushed garlic if you like a kick to your meal. Plate the salad and check on the chicken. When the chicken is done cooking slice it into bite size pieces and place on the salad. Top with shaved Asiago cheese and a few more shakes of pepper. Serve immediately.
This one was a surprise to me. I had tasted the dressing before I tossed it with the Romaine and frankly I wasn’t impressed. There was no kick to it like I had been used to when ordering this and it was a bit fishy for my tastes. This is really a sum of the whole parts though. After tossing with the Parmesan and adding the garlic it really rounded the whole dish out for me. It all came together and blended almost perfectly. Now that I know what authentic Caesar is this gives me a whole new area to play around with. I can add more levels of flavors by adding different kinds of peppercorns, capers or vegetables. Once you know the basics it’s time to make it your own and improve on it however you wish. If you make this or have made this before, let me know what you think. Enjoy.
Single Ingredient Project 