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.

Secrets of a souffle (ssshhh)

Recipes: Cheddar cheese souffle, Baby greens salad with persimmon and balsamic vinaigrette



Mention making a souffle and some cooks will run for the hills. "Not me," they say. "Too hard, too fussy." And to that I say, "Oh pshaw." It's not true, you know, that it is hard, or that it is finicky and everything has to happen at the last minute. There are a few "secrets", and I'm about to divulge them. I made this cheese souffle (the very one pictured here) in about 45 minutes the other day while my friend Jackie was over visiting. She actually helped whip up the egg whites, but there would have been ample time to do that if I had been in the kitchen alone. Come on, give it a try.

Oh, I didn't mention the real reasons for giving souffle a try. Nothing, I mean nothing!, is more delicious than a good cheese souffle with a salad. And it makes a dinner that's beautiful to look at as well as yummy. Those are the reasons.

 

Cheddar Cheese Souffle

The Secrets: I'll give you the secrets right up front, so you can think on them.

1. Take the eggs out of the fridge 30 minutes or so ahead of time, or even leave them out for a couple of hours, so they come to room temperature. This makes whipping the egg whites easier.

2. Separate the eggs and put the whites and yolks in separate small bowls. Do this before you do anything else. This will also help bring them to room temperature faster. Note: there are 4 egg yolks and 6 egg whites in the recipe. Unless you have an immediate need for the 2 extra yolks, just discard them.

3. A regular souffle dish will work great, but I like to use a shallower gratin dish instead - see the one in the photo above. The shallower dish makes for more crust, which many people like best, and the souffle cooks a little faster. I find it's more fool-proof, and who doesn't love that?

4. Prepare your baking dish, souffle or gratin, right after you separate the eggs. Then it's done and you're not scrambling to do it at the last minute.

5. Get all your ingredients out and ready, as you should always do. Grate your cheese in advance. Remember mise en place? And KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) from an earlier post about organizing? Excellent, you're on your way.

The Recipe

• Butter, plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan for preparing the baking dish.
• 1-1/4 cups warmed milk or combo milk and cream (I used 3/4 cup 1% and 1/2 cup half-and-half)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour (or gluten-free flour, if you wish)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika or ground red chile (like New Mexico ground chile)
• 4 large egg  yolks
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated cheddar. I used white extra-sharp New York cheddar; use whatever cheddar you like, white or orange
• 6 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Separate the eggs into separate bowls. Butter a 6-cup souffle dish or an 8-cup gratin dish and coat it with the Parmesan. Heat the milk.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When foamy, whisk in the flour and continue cooking over low heat for a few minutes, whisking. Whisk in the warm milk and stir well for a minute or so while it thickens, then add 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper, plus the paprika (or chile). Take it off the heat. Beat the egg yolks into the milk mixture one at a time until well blended, then stir in the cheese. Don't worry if it's not perfectly smooth.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks. You can use a whisk or an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Do not do this step in advance; the milk/egg base will be fine for the few minutes it takes. Stir a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the base to lighten it, then carefully fold the rest of the whites in with a spatula.

Pour the souffle batter into the prepared dish, then put it in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 375 F. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just a bit wobbly in the center.

Serve immediately with a salad as pictured below, or any steamed vegetable. Piece of cake, right?

Baby Greens Salad with Persimmon and Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is a simple salad, and delicious. The balsamic vinaigrette is versatile too - wonderful on most salad combinations and on cooked green vegetables.

The Vinaigrette

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon sea salt with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Stir with a fork or small whisk. Add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and stir vigorously till well combined. Set aside until just before you're ready to serve dinner.

The Salad

• Toast slivered almonds in a small frying pan until they are lightly browned.
• Slice 1 fuyu persimmon (see photo below), removing the small seed.
• Wash and spin dry any combination of baby lettuces, including some arugula if you have it.
• Toss all with the dressing just before serving, reserving some of the almonds to sprinkle on top.

Fuyu persimmon

Both dishes are vegetarian and gluten-free (if you use gluten-free flour in the souffle).

Warm summer night salad bowl

Recipes: Chef's salad, Thousand island dressing, Vinaigrette

May. That time of year when one day it's summer and the next day it's not. When it's summer and hot, the last thing you want to do is heat up the stove and work hard over dinner. That's when it's time to go for the salad bowl - crisp lettuces, a little protein, some veggies, maybe a few crumbles of cheese. And, definitely, home made dressing. If you haven't tried making your own salad dressings, you're in for a big treat! I promise, you'll never go back to supermarket dressings again.

Salad Dressings 101: Thousand Island

This is my BF's favorite dressing. He's been known to order Caesar Salad with Thousand Island on the side. Serious. The bad thing is, even the best supermarket Thousand Island tastes like chemicals, because that's the only way it doesn't spoil on the shelf. The good thing is, it's easy to make at home, so why wouldn't you? I make just enough for two with a big dinner salad. If there's any left over we have it for lunch the next day. Thousand Island lasts in the fridge no more than three days, so don't make a double batch unless you're feeding a crowd.

In case you're curious, Thousand Island dressing was named for the thousand islands in the St. Lawrence River between Canada and the northern border of the U.S. Legend has it that it was invented in that region and popularized at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. It was wildly popular by the 1950s.

• 1/4 cup chopped sweet pickles. Bread and butter pickles work well for this (Trader Joe's, most supermarkets) or regular sweet pickles or gherkins. Don't use sweet pickle relish, which will give the dressing a bad taste.
• 2 chopped green olives with pimientos, or 6 chopped pickled jalapeno slices (the favorite at our house)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (generic, or I use New Mexico Red Chili powder)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon water
• Juice of half a fresh lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all together in a bowl. Cover with cling film and refrigerate while you are making your salad. If you can let the flavors meld for an hour, that's great. If not, it'll still be fabulous.

Thousand Island dressing is also wonderful on burgers, or in Reuben sandwiches. Yum!

Salad Dressings 102: Vinaigrette

This is my favorite, and there are at least a million ways to make it. Unlike Thousand Island and other mayonnaise-based dressings, vinaigrette lasts a week or more in the refrigerator. I make a little jar of it and keep it on hand. When I want to use it, I take it out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature, then I shake it up good. Never can tell when you might want an avocado or some raw cauliflower with a drizzle of vinaigrette!

• In a small jar with a cover, add 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon herbes d'Provence (or other dried herb you like), 1 tablespoon unflavored rice vinegar, and one tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Put the cover on, and shake well.
• Add 5 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil. Put the cover back on and shake well again. Keep in refrigerator and bring to room temperature before shaking and using.

Use vinaigrette sparingly on your salad, and toss well to distribute it.

There are other good salad dressings you can make at home. One of them is Blue Cheese Dressing, which we've already covered in this post. Blue Cheese dressing is another one where the supermarket version falls far short of home made. If you've tried the supermarket dressing and didn't like it, try the home made. You might find true love.

Chef's Salad

Chef's Salad is a name for a salad that has in it whatever the Chef wants to put in it. That's you!! There are a few traditional items that you'll get if you order a chef salad in a restaurant, but you don't even have to pay attention to those if you don't want to.

Just for the record, the traditional items are:

• Lettuce, often iceberg or chopped romaine
• Julienned ham and/or turkey
• Some kind of cheese, usually cut in sticks
• Bell pepper strips
• Avocado chunks
• Tomato wedges (in or out of season, argh!)
• Hard-boiled eggs, cut in wedges

Here's the Chef's Salad I served the other night with my home made Thousand Island dressing. In this case, I made individual salads rather than one big one, just because. In our salads we had:

• Chopped romaine lettuce
• Sliced green onions
• Crumbles of Maytag blue cheese
• Roasted red bell pepper our neighbor made and shared
• Raw cauliflower from our garden
• Marinated and pan-grilled chicken breast (marinated in olive oil and lemon juice for 30 minutes, salted and peppered, pan-grilled for 5 minutes each side over med-high heat, let sit for 10 minutes to finish, and sliced thin)

You see, you can vary your Chef's Salad any way you, the Chef, desire. Buon appetito, and stay cool!