Friday, January 25, 2008

Caesar Salad And Anchovies


I love the taste of Caesar salad with chicken. The fresh lettuce, grilled chicken strips and the cheesy taste.

I looked around for its recipe and found a few on Martha Stewart's website. I took one and tried it and found that it is quite easy to make. It tastes nice and I've made it a few times since; this is how:

Croutons:
6 slices bread; cut into 3/4inch cubes
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I grate my garlic. I think that's easier..)
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced (you can omit this if you dont have it)
Salt to taste

2 cloves garlic (finely grated)
2 large egg yolks (you can subsitute with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise if you'd prefer)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 - 5 anchovies (ie 1 small flat can) - mash to a paste
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heads romaine lettuce, washed and dried thoroughly and torn into 2inch pieces
Grated Pamesan cheese (to taste)

Croutons : Toss bread cubes with all other ingredients in a bowl. Toast in 350 degrees oven till lightly brown.

Stir egg yolks, Dijon mustard, anchovies and garlic together in a bowl. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper. Slowly stir in olive oil till dressing is creamy.

Add lettuce to the bowl and toss thoroughly. Stir in grated parmesan cheese. Sprinkle croutons on top of salad. Serve topped with Parmesan shavings.

That's it. I like my salad with chicken - so what I do is I grill / bake a couple of chicken breasts, slice them thinly and add to the salad with the lettuce.

While making the salad I discovered what anchovies tastes like - it tastes quite strong but not that bad actually.

Fresh anchovies are gutted (the Italians pulled the head off together with the stomach etc etc - I watched that on David Rocco's Dolce Vita) - and then preserved in layers of sea salt for three months. They are then packed with olive oil.

Although they are actually our bilis, they dont taste anything like bilis that we know and the price - mama mia, I cant believe bilis could be that expensive. I'm thinking of omitting the anchovies in my salad the next time..

Nevertheless, you must try this.
(ps - the gambar is from Martha Stewart although how I wish it were from my own camera err..handphone)
*****

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