My Favorite Salad
I've thought about this a lot and have finally decided to put it in print! Should any one care to know, Caesar Salad is my all-time favorite salad.
There have been many chefs and cook book authors over the years who have changed, added and otherwise amended the classic recipe (if anyone knows what that is anymore) but the variations I really object to are those adding Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce and other unlikely ingredients. I have only a few memorable taste memories of eating Caesar Salad in restaurants that I can truly say were great. One of these was served at an Italian restaurant no longer in business in New York City called "Romeo Salta". Romeo was a unique individual and his restaurant was superb. The Caesar salad they served was prepared at table by the Captain and they used thin Italian style Grisini bread sticks broken into 2-inch pieces instead of croutons. It was simple, yet delicious. And they used a raw egg before the "food police" got on our backs and told us it wasn't healthy or wise to eat raw egg. My recipe is inspired by the one that used to be served at Romeo Salta's and I too have adjusted the recipe to exclude the egg yolk and only use the white. But at home, for myself and my husband, I use a whole egg. I figure 1 in 10,000 eggs is possibly tainted and the chances of my getting that one egg are quite remote. But that's my choice.
1 cup home made croutons
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 whole head Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 egg white, lightly beaten*
2 Tablespoons Red wine vinegar
3 anchovies, minced (optional)
4 teaspoons small capers, minced
1 cup grated cheese (Parmesan)
In a small bowl, combine first three ingredients; mix well and let sit for one hour. In a large serving bowl, tear romaine lettuce into bite size pieces and season with black pepper to taste. Coat lettuce with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Blend together the egg white, vinegar, anchovies, and capers. Pour over romaine and toss well. Just before serving, add the crouton/garlic mixture and the grated cheese and toss again.
Yield: 4 servings
*or whole egg if you so choose
Home Made Croutons
Use the best Italian bread or country loaf bread you can buy. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. Toss bread cubes with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Spread bread cubes on a flat cookie sheet and place on a middle shelf in the oven. Turn broiler on and watch bread cubes as they brown. Turn cubes over with tongs and return to the broiler. Continue watching until other side of croutons are lightly browned.
Remove croutons from oven and proceed as used in recipe for Caesar Salad.
Note: quantity of bread and olive oil is relative to amount of croutons
Copyright © 2006 Ann Hall Every, CCP
