276407 Tue Feb 08 02:29:32 -0800 2005 30 31 Home Cooking 0 1458197 Looking for your best recipe for an upcoming potluck planning dinner for the racing season (sail). Tue Feb 08 02:29:32 -0800 2005 0 Shaebones 1 1458206 Here's a link the real deal. And using just the pale inner leaves and *leaving them whole* makes for a superlative experience, quite different than what usually passes for the salad these days. Link: http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/caesrsal.html Tue Feb 08 08:18:55 -0800 2005 1458197 0 Karl S. 2 1458236 This is the classic one, and how I make mine. Note there is no may and no anchovy in the original caesar salad. Tue Feb 08 11:11:28 -0800 2005 1458206 0 farmersdaughter 1 1458209 Don't forget the anchovies! Everyone loves the taste of anchovies. Yeah, right! Tue Feb 08 08:39:45 -0800 2005 1458197 0 ChiliDude 2 1458275 They really don't have any place in a Caesar Salad. So said Julia, not to mention Caesar Cardini, and I agree wholeheartedly. Tue Feb 08 13:22:57 -0800 2005 1458209 0 peg 3 1458288 Well.. I personally think it tastes better with them, that's why I put them in. Tue Feb 08 14:06:14 -0800 2005 1458275 0 knuckles 3 1458289 i agree. i love anchovy and use it liberally. it makes a great green sauce w/ parsley, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. but a caesar salad is not a bed of lettuce to show off your anchovy predilection. anchovy makes the caesar taste unbalanced--too salty--and too chemically if using a paste. Tue Feb 08 14:06:49 -0800 2005 1458275 0 mod'ern 4 1458327 You should never "taste" anchovy in the modern caesar, nor mustard, nor oil, nor anything specific. If anchovy had no place in a caesar, then you should leave out the Lea and Perrins as well! Tue Feb 08 16:15:40 -0800 2005 1458289 0 rudeboy 5 1458331 "the modern caesar". that's curious way of saying ingredients blended to mushery in a food processor let's drown romaine lettuce salad. how someone cannot "taste" 5 fillets of anchovies as called for in some recipes posted i cannot say. it's not that anchovy has no place in the caesar. it's just that the hint of it is there from worcestershire sauce. it's supposed to be subtle. my point is simply that people who put anchovy into their caesar are either deconstructing the salad--unlikely--or overemphasizing the anchovy to feed their taste for it. and it doesn't do the caesar salad justice. Tue Feb 08 16:33:22 -0800 2005 1458327 0 mod'ern 6 1458389 I think that some of you are overly purist minded, and don't really see the point. I can drink a quart of Lea and Perrins (shirtless), and the anchovy flavor doesn't approach a "hint." A properly prepared english Worcestershire may be different. I've made plenty of caesar salads tableside in fine restaurants. We didn't have a food processor, but we were making an emulsion dressing in which to bathe (not drown) romaine hearts. Then we grated cheese over it as the toasted croutons came out from the kitchen. The goal is to get a balance of flavors. To me, using a prepared "sauce" was a great way for Mr. Caesar to overcome a temporary problem with his guests when he was in a pinch. Not to take anything away from that......I've made some of my best preparations when under duress. I love that preparation. I also love the resultant product. But to call a properly prepare emulsion with a balance of flavors "mushery" is an oversimplification. I'm one of the most picky people that I know, especially with inferior "caesar" salads. I don't like it when they skip the anchovy, and I don't like it when they put too much or when the anchovies are inferior and fishy. Perhaps you have been exposed to inferior anchovies? I think that I may make a version of a caesar salad with fish sauce, palm sugar, and magroot leaf in place of the Worcestershire. But I guess that would be too Som Tum deconstructionist? Tue Feb 08 23:12:23 -0800 2005 1458331 0 rudeboy 7 1458730 Interestingly enough I HATE anchovies. Hate them on pizzas, hate them on top of my salad, won't eat them in any other form but it's not quite a caesar to me without that beautiful 'emulsification' involving anchovy. I eat caesar salad at every single restaurant I visit. Upscale, downscale, diners, inbetween. I've tried them all. It's an obsession with me. I hate a caesar that tastes 'fishy'. I posted the recipe with 4 anchovy fillets because it is the closest I have come to the very best caesars I've tasted and when the anchovies melt into the vinegar with the garlic and a tad of mustard - HEAVEN! I agree, no good caesar tastes like any one ingredient. It's about the combination. Thu Feb 10 14:02:03 -0800 2005 1458389 0 krissywats 3 1459075 The original caesar salad had worchestershire sauce, which is based on anchovies. It's really 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, if you opt for a few anchovies over the worchestershire. Still "authentic" in my opinion. Sat Feb 12 14:52:13 -0800 2005 1458275 0 DanaB 4 1459113 I have to disagree. Nam Pla is also made of fermented anchovies, but I don't see anchovies being chucked willy-nilly in to ka prao or green curry, for example. Call me a purist, but anchovies and Worcestershire sauce are just not interchangeable ingredients. Totally different flavors. Sat Feb 12 19:29:12 -0800 2005 1459075 0 peg 5 1459123 Have we verified that the anchovies in Worcestershire are fermented? Sat Feb 12 22:07:02 -0800 2005 1459113 0 rudeboy 1 1458214 I use raw egg yoke (Yep! still do it), Anchovies, mustard, garlic....but, I chop the garlic (and lots of it) very fine, place it in a Pyrex measuring cup, add about one cup or more of Extra Virgin olive oil, set it in the microwave on 'high' for about 2.5 minutes. Bringing it to a boil. This infuses the garlic/oil for a most tasty finish. I use Asiago cheese and home-made croutons to top it off. Tue Feb 08 08:52:11 -0800 2005 1458197 0 Lanny 1 1458218 The best Caesar dressing I've made is like so: Big old squeeze of anchovy paste (maybe 1/4 tube?) 1 1/2 t dijon mustard juice of half a lemon big dash of worcestershire sauce small dash of tabasco one egg yolk one big juicy clove of garlic, mashed salt and pepper wisk all above together and then slowly add olive oil to taste (generally about 1/2 cup) Fresh parmesan, croutons, and romaine are mandatory. Tue Feb 08 09:47:53 -0800 2005 1458197 0 yumyum 2 1458306 This is close to the way I make it with two exceptions: I rub the garlic clove all over the inside of the wooden bowl, rather than put it in the dressing, and I use 4 to 6 anchovy fillets; personally, the tubed stuff tastes oxidized to me. I don't care how it was made in Tijuana, I think anchovies are the best part. Prepare dressing in the serving bowl first, then add romaine. Always homemade croutons. Grana cheese in ribbons if you have the time. Tue Feb 08 15:04:43 -0800 2005 1458218 0 Christine 1 1458221 I am absolutely insane about my caesar salad. I'm very picky and I'm very put out when I get the 'creamy italian' variety (typically this happens when a restaurant makes it without anchovy). Seriously, it's a passion. So when I had this at a friend's house and was told that this recipe did NOT have raw egg in it, I couldn't believe it. It's still the best homemade caesar I've made. I went through a phase where I ate it every single night. I'd use a tin of anchovies, not the paste - I think the paste tastes funny. And while you can make your own croutons, if you are not so inclined, the pepperidge farm caesar variety is really quite good. I always get the really big ones and toss the salad a good five-ten minutes before we eat it so those croutons can really soak up the dressing. Also, I mix everything else and then drizzle the oil in while the food processor or blender is running, that way you get a nice emulsification - I hate 'oily' caesar dressing. Link: http://www.recipesource.com/fgv/salads/22/rec2202.html Tue Feb 08 10:06:02 -0800 2005 1458197 0 Krissywats 2 1458506 I just made this dressing, and we love it. We love the anchovy taste, whether it's correct or not, and this recipe has it. Thanks so much! Sylvia Wed Feb 09 14:31:27 -0800 2005 1458221 0 Sylvia G 3 1458727 Welcome - I'm glad there is another convert! It's really a great recipe. Thu Feb 10 13:54:02 -0800 2005 1458506 0 krissywats 3 1458732 So funny. This is the recipe I settled on but hubs has such a bad cold we never made it to the party. All he wants is soup so once he's on the mend I plan to make this one just for us. Got all the ingredients so can't wait!~ Thu Feb 10 14:12:26 -0800 2005 1458506 0 Shaebones 1 1458223 I make a thin classic mayonnaise...make it a runny salad dressing texure - about 2 cups. Then I add to that an entire head of garlic, crushed. Then a little dijon, a teaspoon of capers, a good squeeze of anchovy paste, juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper. Fold in a good handful of whatever cheese I am using and it's done. This makes enough dressing for a crowd...four or five heads of romaine. I also clean my romaine the way I learned to do it in cooking school - I remove all the spines. I just can't get past the head chef screaming 'There is pig food in my salad' when he was presented with an 'improperly' cleaned salad :-) I just like it better that way. Tue Feb 08 10:21:08 -0800 2005 1458197 0 Cyndy 2 1458229 Good, that is the way I clean lettuces too and a reason I quit buying bagged greens. Too much garbage in them. Tue Feb 08 10:53:23 -0800 2005 1458223 0 Candy 3 1458233 I take a lot of flack for that...everyone thinks I'm crazy. But to me, it's just the way it needs to be. Of course my husband stands and the sink and munches the cores...argh! I'm glad I'm not the only one who does it that way! Tue Feb 08 11:10:31 -0800 2005 1458229 0 Cyndy 4 1458262 I have always felt leaving the stems/cores in the salad was the height of laziness and shows that the maker just does not care about what is being prepared. Of course the bagged salad producers are just trying to get more weight in the bag. Tue Feb 08 12:38:01 -0800 2005 1458233 0 Candy 1 1458243 Julia Child notes that Caesar Cardini originally served his salad using the whole inner leaves of the Romaine, tossed with the dressing, and eaten with the fingers instead of a knife/fork. We tried it this way this past weekend and it was great fun, injecting a light note into an otherwise elegant dinner party. Be sure to have plenty of napkins handy. Tue Feb 08 11:51:23 -0800 2005 1458197 0 TomSwift 2 1458245 So, Cardini came up with the original recipe, and then it seems like it was taken back to the elemental level by other chefs somewhere. Using anchovies and vinegar in place of the Worcesteshire (aren't the anchovies in Worcestershire fermented?). I'm used to tasting a hint of good mustard in the background of a properly prepared american caesar, as well as the bite of the anchovy. Worcestershire is sweet, from the tamarind, and it seems like the original would have no mustard flavor. The updated has no sweetness whatsoever. Maybe I should to try it, but with the quality of the Worcestershire that is commonly available.....I don't know. Tue Feb 08 11:57:01 -0800 2005 1458243 0 rudeboy 3 1458257 There are limits to how low I will bow to authenticity. I use red wine vinegar, Dijon, Worcestershire and anchovies in my version. In a dressing this busy I'm not sure that splitting hairs over the Worcestershire is material, but Lee & Perrins works well for our tastes. Tue Feb 08 12:26:26 -0800 2005 1458245 0 TomSwift 4 1458390 I usually agree with you, but not this time. Caesar salad should not include vinegar. If you're using a little bit of good mustard and lemon juice, you've got all the acidity you need. It the melding of the flavors that's so key to a good caesar. No one taste should overpower the other. And a generous hand with the garlic, enough so it "bites" a little, denotes a true caesar to me. Agree about Lee and Perrins however. :) Tue Feb 08 23:18:46 -0800 2005 1458257 0 bryan 5 1458470 Right on about the garlic "bite," but I almost always take some heat from guests because my garlic preference far exceeds theirs. I also take heat for torqueing up the anchovies from time to time, most certainly to the point of overpowering, but I like anchovy. Interesting point about the vinegar - I do use both Dijon and lemon juice, and a teaspoon of vinegar, but I haven't noticed that the acidity overpowers. I think tomorrow night (tonight is Chinese New Year banquet) we'll try it sans vinegar. And not too much anchovy. Wed Feb 09 12:44:29 -0800 2005 1458390 0 TomSwift 1 1458320 I make one this way, with anchovies. Rub 1-2 garlic cloves all around the inside of a large wooden bowl (if you use ceramic, squash the garlic and rub it around w/the back of a wooden spoon or something). Squeeze one lemon into bowl Grind a bunch of pepper into bowl (1 teaspoonish) Worcestorshire is optional, I use it usually (1 teaspoonish) Crack one coddled egg into bowl (coddled is boiled for 1 minute) Whisk together ingredients, then slowly pour ~1/2 cup or so of good olive oil, all the while whisking Toss with romaine lettuce Add 1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese (toss) Add croutons at the end (toss) Add whole anchovies from the can--I spread them out in a star and people can avoid them if they wish. --I make my croutons usually with day-old baguette. Preheat oven to 300. Cut into pieces (one salad's worth--you can decide your crouton/salad ratio). In a frying pan, melt 2 T butter (or more) and some olive oil, toss in 3-4 cloves minced garlic, saute for a second and then add the bread until all this is evenly sucked up. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or so until they are crispy (don't overbrown though--lower the oven temp if you wish). Tue Feb 08 16:02:41 -0800 2005 1458197 0 cheyenne