Caesar salads and hot summer nights

Recipes: Caesar dressing, Standard Caesar salad, Caesar salad with sage chicken, Caesar salad with deviled eggs 

Hail Caesar! For those of us who love Caesar salad (love is an understatement), the search for the perfect dressing, the perfect Caesar, is never-ending. Years ago I found an old-school Italian restaurant in San Francisco that made Caesar table-side to perfection, rendering the need to continue the search for a recipe redundant. The garlic! The anchovies! Heaven! Alas, the restaurant closed. 

Ever since that sad day, I've compared every Caesar I've ever tasted  to theirs, and found it wanting. I will still try anyone's Caesar in the hope of finding perfection again, but I've been consistently disappointed. Until recently, that is, when I decided to try the recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, America's Test Kitchen. I was in for a big and happy surprise.

First, no eggs. I am not a fan of the idea of no-egg Caesar, believing all the brou-ha-ha about raw eggs to be overstated, in particular if you are reasonably careful to buy organic eggs produced in your immediate area. Despite my philosophical leanings, this recipe uses buttermilk instead of eggs, with the advantage that you can keep it for several days in the fridge and have Caesar salads all week. On top of that, it's easy and delicious - as good a Caesar as I've had in the dark years since my favorite restaurant closed.

Caesar Dressing

In a blender, combine:

• 1/3 cup grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry if packed in salt
• 2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Then, with the blender running, add in a steady stream:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Regarding the cheese: This salad and dressing is about the cheese in a major way, so be sure to use freshly grated good quality Parmesan: Parmigiano-Reggiano if possible. If you truly prefer not to grate a lot of cheese, then use good quality already-grated Parmesan in the dressing and reserve your grating efforts for the salad itself, adding the freshly grated cheese when you toss the Romaine with the dressing.

This dressing can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Standard Caesar Salad

Toss 1/3 cup of the dressing with one head of Romaine lettuce, preferably cut crosswise in strips. Toss additional freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese with the lettuce and dressing. Top with croutons, or garlic croutons, if desired. 

Croutons are easy to make. Just fry cubes of good bread on all sides in a combination of butter and olive oil, adding some garlic granules if you like.

Caesar Salad with Sage Chicken (pictured above)

For the chicken:

Marinate 2 boneless, skinless, half chicken breasts in 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 12 fresh sage leaves for 30 minutes, turning once or twice while marinating.

In a cast iron or other heavy skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat. Add the chicken breasts, marinade drained and saved, smooth side down and cook for 5 minutes. While this side is cooking, salt and pepper the side of the chicken that's facing up and arrange the sage leaves on top of that side.

Turn the chicken so that the leaves are all on the bottom and cook for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper the top side of the chicken. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a cutting board to rest, arranging the fried sage leaves on top of the breasts. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes.

Slice the chicken crosswise and arrange the slices on top of an already prepared Caesar salad. Garnish with tomato wedges, if desired.

Caesar Salad with Deviled Eggs

For the deviled eggs:
In a small saucepan, bring 3 eggs in cold water to cover to a boil and boil for one minute. Turn off the heat, cover the pan tightly, and let it sit for 12 minutes. Then drain the eggs, rinse them in cold water, and let them cool off for at least 15 minutes.

When cool, peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks with a teaspoon and put them into a small mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon capers to the yolks, plus salt and pepper to taste. Mash the yolks and flavorings all together. Then, with a teaspoon, mound the yolk mixture back into the egg halves and arrange them around an already prepared Caesar salad. Sprinkle the eggs lightly with sweet or hot paprika.

Add tomato wedges, or perhaps lightly broiled asparagus, if desired. Yum!

A perfect dinner for a hot summer's night.