Caesar Salad

Submitted by The International F

"By nick, more or less cribbed out what I remember from The Joy of Cooking... omitted the salt and wine vinegar, increased the anchovy and lemon juice. "Doctrinally", we'd mash the dressing together in a wooden bowl, and toss the salad in it. Instead, we'll make a mayonnaise out of the egg and the oil (which, incidentally, is why we need the dry mustard--it helps the emulsion form. If you don't have it, just omit it, but add the oil slower and use a blender if you can)."

 

• Ready In: 10mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 large head romaine lettuce
• 1 garlic clove
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• cayenne pepper
• 0.25 (2 ounce) can olive anchovy packed in oil
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup toasted cubed stale bread
• olive oil flavored cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

directions

1. Spray a cooking sheet or some layered aluminum foil with cooking spray. Place cubed bread on the sheet or foil, and give the bread a light shot of the cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with black pepper, and place in a 375°F oven. Check every few minutes, and remove when crispy.
2. Peel outer leaves off lettuce and discard. Slice remaining lettuce (as a bunch) in half-inch strips. Rinse in cold water.
3. Peel the garlic by mashing it with the heel of your hand, the flat of a knife, or a wooden spoon -- the important thing is to get the peel off the garlic, and keep everybody happy. Take half the anchovies out of the can--the rest can be stored in the refrigerator, covered in oil, for a couple days. Microwave the lemon for thirty seconds, and then slap it around a little. Cut open CAREFULLY, squeeze out juice into bowl. Pulp is okay, but pick out the seeds with a spoon.
4. Combine everything except the rinsed lettuce, the oil, and the bread (should probably still be in the oven) in the blender (if you don't have a blender, whisk everything together well).
5. Once the mix is good and pureed, SLOWLY drizzle in the olive oil as the blender continues to run, adding a few drops at a time. The mixture should lighten, and visibly get thicker--if it doesn't, slow down (if you're not using a blender, this step will be a lot of whisking). Add an additional egg white or a 1/4 cup of eggbeaters if the dressing is too thin.
6. Adjust taste with additional garlic, lemon juice, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce as desired. (Adding additional mustard will not really make the dressing taste more "caesar-y", and the dressing shouldn't need any more anchovy).
7. Pour mixture in salad bowl, and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
8. Add lettuce and croutons to salad bowl, toss. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and black pepper.