Thursday, January 06, 2011

Pleaser Caesar

So lately I've been eating a lot of salad for lunch.  Trying to keep this 34-year-old girlish figure, ya know?  Somebody's got to keep up with that bitch Reese Witherspoon.  (Just kiddin' Reesie Piecy...you know I love you, especially in that movie Freeway).

Mr. Caesar Salad.  Oh, Mr. Caesar Salad.  If you only could be good everywhere I order you.  I've had my share of horrific Caesar Salads.  Soggy breadcrumbs, wilted Romaine, drowning in dressing that tastes straight out of a jar, chicken that is directly out of the freezer, microwaved, and is questionable on whether or not it's really even chicken.  I've had a lot of depressing lunch dates with Mr. Caesar.  So the other day when I was craving one, I decided to not be stood up by that bastard of a salad anymore.  I was going to make my own, one that was a perfect match, like Weird Science.  Here's what I did:
I bought some REAL chicken breasts from the store.  Chicken that may have at one time been frozen, but wasn't when I bought it.  Don't trust any other chicken.  I then beat the crap out of said chicken breast because I was having a bad day.  Not really...I just wanted it to cook quickly, so I took my meat mallet (giggity) to it to thin it out a little.  I then seasoned it with salt & pepper and garlic powder.  Then I cooked it in olive oil on medium high for about 4 minutes per side.  When it was finished, I put it on a plate to let it chill while I made the salad.

In my food processor, I put (ok, pardon the measurements) about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, another tablespoon of anchovy paste, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, the juice from 1/2 a lemon (you can add more or less depending on how much you like lemon), a splash of Worcestershire sauce, 1 raw egg yolk and salt and pepper.  Then you turn that sucker on high and drizzle in a stream of olive oil (a good one, not something you bought for $4), about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup until it starts to emulsify (which is just a fancy term for coming together, you'll know when it's right).

Taste it and add lemon or salt or pepper or more garlic, whatever it needs to taste good to you.  Cooking is all about what YOU like.  And how hard can that be?  Add the dressing to some clean, chopped Romaine (grilled Romaine is even better, try it sometime) and add in your own, or some sort of bagged/boxed crouton that you like.  Cut up the chicken and there you have it.  A Caesar good enough to take home to your mom and dad.
  

 

2 comments:

Andy said...

you should have mentioned that it's a recipe from mexico, since most people think it's italian.

Jess said...

Well I don't have to anymore...you just did! Thanks dad!

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