HHDD #12: Caesar!

I’ve kept my eye on HHDD events for a while. Not long after I started blogging. Alas, I haven’t been in the position to enter. Until now…..

Katie has pitched the challenge of all things Caesar. I’ve never made a Caesar Salad before so I decided to run with it rather than incorporate key ingredients into another dish. Purists beware; my salad doesn’t contain egg (other than in the dressing) or anchovies because I don’t like them! Don’t like egg? Yup, that’s right. Put it in a cake or biscuits and I won’t bat an eyelid……Batter? Yes, I’ll eat raw egg in cake batter too, being the queen of bowl licking. However, put that egg in a quiche, frittata and other such egg-y concoctions and I’ll turn up my nose. It’s not for lack of trying. On Sunday I even had a bite of S’bo’s eggs benedict, but alas, eggs are still not for me.

As for the anchovies, according to Wikipedia, original Caesar salads didn’t contain anchovies, instead it was Worcestershire sauce that gave the distinctive flavour.

Anyway, on with the show. I pulled my recipe from Cooks Companion, special mention should also go to the lady at a South Melbourne Market Deli, who gave me my anchovies free because I only wanted two!

Caesar Salad with Sourdough Croutons

I will work from the dressing onwards. I rarely understand why cookbooks will give ingredients for dressings (and sauces etc.) last yet get you to make them first.

3 eggs
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 anchovy fillets
2 tsp mustard (I used seeded for aesthetic reasons, however the recommended is Dijon)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 ½ Tbsp red-wine vinegar (I upped the vinegar to make a sharper dressing)
1 Tbsp spoon grated parmesan cheese
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper

S’bo was around to help so, being an egg eater, I put him in charge of boiling the eggs for exactly 4 minutes. I then whizzed them up a bit with my stick blender. I’m not fortunate enough to own a food processor…..yet. From here I added the garlic, anchovies, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar and parmesan. The recipe recommended I work them all to a paste before adding to the eggs, however I just blended like mad. The oil went in next, followed by salt and pepper to taste. This made about 2 cups.

For three people (+ next day’s lunch), I washed and chopped 2 cos lettuces and arranged them on plate. In a pan I cooked 4 rashers of bacon until crispy and then fried cubes of sourdough (I used 3 slices for 3 people). I tore up the bacon and scattered it with the croutons over the leaves. Next to come was the dressing, then some fresh parsely and finally, shavings of some great parmesan that I picked up a week or so earlier.

So there you have it, my first ever Caesar Salad AND my first HHDD. Thanks Katie for being a great inspiration.