How to make the Perfect Caesar salad

Perfect Caesar salad – Cooking made easy

Making the perfect Caesar salad is not hard, it just requires a little attention to detail. For me, the perfect Caesar salad has a hint of garlic, a medium flavor of anchovies and a strong taste of parmesan cheese. There are a few basic rules that need to be followed though:

• Do not add the dressing until just before serving.
• Tear the lettuce, do not cut it.
• Use only good quality olive oil. Not peanut oil or groundnut, or any other oil. Just the best olive oil you can find. Which brand is a matter of personal preference, but I prefer Italian cold pressed virgin oil.

This recipe is easy to follow, but has several steps, and they need to be followed in the correct order. I am not entirely sure why the lemon needs to be added before the parmesan cheese, but it does make a difference. Any technically minded readers out there, please let me know if you have the answer. I don’t usually like to push a particular brand, but in this case, Colman’s English mustard powder and Lea and Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce are pretty vital ingredients. This recipe serves two.

You will need:

Equipment:

• A skillet
• A saucepan
• A measuring cup
• A salad bowl and serving utensils

Ingredients:

• 1 Romaine or 2 baby Lechuga lettuce
• 2 cups croutons

For the dressing:

• 1 clove garlic
• 2 coddled eggs
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 30 grams finely chopped anchovies
• 1 teaspoon Colman’s mustard powder
• 1 table spoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ lemon
• salt and pepper

First, make the coddled eggs. To coddle eggs, bring a pan of water to the boil, take it off the heat, drop the eggs in, leave them in the water for one minute, take them out of the water and put them in the fridge.

Next, make the croutons. Take some stale bread and cut it into cubes. French or Italian bread is best. Try not to use any bread with a lot of sugar added. I know, you can buy ready made croutons, but this is the way to go. Pour some olive oil into a skillet, turn to a medium heat and add the bread cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and fry until crispy. Turn the croutons out onto a plate covered with kitchen paper.

Next wash and tear the lettuce. Drain.

We are now ready to start. Make sure you have all the ingredients to hand and the salad is going to be served straight away. You can’t let this sit, or the croutons and lettuce go soggy. These steps must be done in the order they are written.

1. Make the dressing. Pour 1’4 cup olive oil into a jug. Add 1 teaspoon of mustard powder and stir. Chop the anchovies. Add the anchovies to the dressing and stir. Add 1 table spoon of Worcester sauce and stir. The dressing at this stage does not look very appealing, but as the rest of the ingredients go in, it will become more attractive.
2. Cut the clove of garlic in half and rub around the inside of the salad bowl. Smash the clove up and throw in the bowl. I much prefer a wooden salad bowl, but any will do. If you prefer a stronger garlic taste, use more, but I heartily suggest just one clove to start with.
3. Next, add the lettuce to the bowl.
4. Pour on the dressing and toss until the leaves glisten.
5. Break the eggs into the bowl and toss again.
6. Sprinkle on a good helping of ground black pepper and a little salt and toss again.
7. Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the salad and toss again.
8. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and toss again.
9. Add the croutons. Do not toss this time, just gently mix.
10. Serve. Either on it’s own or with some cold cooked chicken. See how to roast a chicken. Guaranteed the best Caesar salad you have ever tasted or your money back.

Bon Apetit!