What we ended up with tonight.
- Thread starter Trevor M
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Trevor M
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@Trevor M Looks good! Do you make your Cesar dressing ....hint hint I'd appreciate a share on it!
Trevor M
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No I don't make my own, too lazy for just the two of us. You'll find all kinds of variations of Ceasar Salad dressing if you look online for a recipe.
If you want to skip a whole lot of work, especially if you're pressed for time, you can cheat and use Mayo or Miracle Whip as your base. All you have to do is chop some anchovies, garlic and capers into a paste, add it to a jar of Mayo along with some lemon juice, red wine vinegar, worchestershire, dijon mustard, salt and pepper and mix it together. Quick and lazy man's Ceasar Salad dressing.
If you want to attempt to make it from scratch, this is the recipe the chef I apprenticed under taught me. We were making a new batch pretty much every other day. Of course once I got good at making it, the measurements weren't so precise and it just became second nature and was all done by sight and taste through the process of repetition. To do it now, because it's just my wife and I, I'd cut this down at least in half, but because it's just my wife and I, that's also the reason I don't make my own anymore.
You'll need:
- A Kitchen-Aide mixer, although not necessary, is really helpful
- Eggs (We used a flat of 30.)
- 2 tins of anchovy fillets (don't cheat and use the cans of anchovy paste, the flavor isn't as good)
- 1 Jar whole capers.
- 1 Jar Dijon Mustard
- 1 clove of minced garlic (either pick up a jar already processed or grab a full clove already peeled, and mince it yourself. I recommend the former, easier, and less work.)
- lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- Lea & Perrins Worchestershire
- Red wine Vinegar
- Canola Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or veg oil)
Starting from scratch. Take your eggs out and have them at room temperature, when you begin.
Take the anchovies, garlic, and capers (we used 2 full tins of anchovies, assuming you're cutting the recipe down I'd use half to 1 full tin only. We used a full cup of capers, I'd go with 1/3 cup of capers and instead of a full clove of garlic, I'd go with half a clove or 2 heaping teaspoons out of an already minced jar you can buy) place them in a blender or food processor with just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil if you have, (if not canola or reg veg oil will do) and chop until it's a thick paste. Scrape it into a bowl and set it aside.
Take your eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Place the yolks into your mixing bowl, and save the whites. (We used the whites for the meringue topping on lemon meringue pies we served. You can also use it for macaroons.)
Using the whip (whisk) attachment for your mixer if you have one, whip the yolks at low speed to start. Once they're mixed together, add the anchovy, garlic and caper mix into the yolks and slowly begin to add the canola oil. This will begin the emulsification process. DO NOT add the oil to fast or it will break the emulsification. IF you find your adding oil and the emulsification starts to break, stop adding the oil and let it emulsify and thicken before starting to add more oil again. IF it doesn't thicken by doing this, it's too far broken and you'd have to start again, a most frustrating circumstance.
As the emulsification thickens, the volume will increase and once it's doubled, you can increase the speed of the mixer to medium as you slowly continue to add more oil until you have the desired consistency. When finished, it should be a little thicker than store bought Mayo
Once you have the desired consistency, add 1 heaping teaspoon of the dijon mustard, (we used a heaping tablespoon) 1/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/3 cup red wine vinegar (we used 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, but white vinegar will do as well) and 1 tablespoon of the Lea & Perrins. Once that has incorporated into the emulsification, it should be slightly thinner, but still thick and you finish by adding salt and pepper to taste.
Some recipe's call for incorporating Parmesan Cheese into the emulsification. I don't recommend it. I have always added the parmesan cheese to order, sprinkling it over the romaine, bacon bits and croutons prior to adding the dressing when mixing the salad just before serving.
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Now that's a batch of salad dressing! I've never seen capers added -going to try that for a good salty brine kick. Any concerns about raw egg yolk or is that a restaurant staple?
Trevor M
Well-Known Member
My suggestion to you would be, if you're concerned about the raw eggs, don't make it from scratch, use the "cheaters" recipe I offered. It's pretty much the same the only difference is you've taken out the steps of separating the eggs and making the emulsification. If you read the ingredients on a jar of mayo or miracle whip, you'll see that egg yolks were used, and if you look up how to make mayo, you'll see they use raw egg yolks to do it. But, if you have doubts, then the rule of thumb is don't, which is similar to the other rule of thumb in the kitchen that says when in doubt, throw it out.
Me personally, IF I was to make it from scratch again, which is almost certainly not going to happen because there is no need, it wasn't a concern way back then, and it wouldn't be a concern for me now, but things have definitely changed since then.
Back then, even when I went for the theory training which also had an element of practical training, raw yolks in emulsification recipe's was still being taught, (that was back in the early 90's.) But once that dressing was made it was ALWAYS refrigerated until needed and because we were going through so much of it, it never lasted long which is why we were making a new batch pretty much every other day if not every day during the busier months.
I'd have thought you'd stop reading after I gave the "cheaters" version Gord.I got wore out just reading thru that recipe---had to take a nap
Quicker, simpler, no need to read the rest unless you wanted to try it from scratch. It's a lot of writing, but in reality it took about 10 minutes total time to make it unless you were slow in separating the yolk.
Trevor M
Well-Known Member
Something else to consider as you're pondering whether or not to use the raw yolks. I will assume that at some point or another you have either battered or used a breading on some kind of meat, be that fish, chicken, or pork.
The process most use for battering or breading whatever meat it is they are battering or breading is to dredge that meat through some flour, knocking the excess off before putting it into a bowl of raw eggs with or without a little milk mixed into it, then into the batter or the breading before putting it either right into the oil, oven or frying pan, or placing it in the fridge for later use.
While many think that to be a very safe thing to do, and 99.9% of the time, it is, the scary reality is, you are more likely to pick up a food borne pathogen through that process due to cross contamination, than you are using raw egg yolks as part of an emulsification because the more raw meat you put into those three bowls of flour, egg wash and batter or breading, the greater the chances of a pathogen being transferred and contracting a food borne illness (food poisoning) becomes.
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@Trevor M I continue to read and learn. I did the version of dressing tonight with the capers but without the raw egg and I really liked the capers for a different taste. And yeah, I do the batter/breading thing and had not thought about cross-contamination because of cooking meat and then major soap on the counter for cleanup.
Trevor M
Well-Known Member
The chef I apprenticed under "made" me eat a whole caper all by itself the first time he had me make Ceasar dressing so I knew what they tasted like since I'd never had one before. It's all I tasted for the rest of the day. I was not impressed.
As for the cleanup, wash your surfaces as you normally would, but have a spray bottle with a diluted bleach solution in it. (10ml bleach per every 1 Litre of water.) After you've wiped the excess from your soap and water wash, just spray that bleach solution on the surfaces and let it air dry.
Looks very good Trevor but the grass is taking up space for more lasagna lol
Trevor M
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I could have filled the plate with lasagna, but then someone might say my portions are to large.
Trevor M
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I'm already using the big plates. Next size up is a serving platter and well....I guess if I have too, I have too