Can anyone please share a fail-proof recipe for Caesar salad dressing?

[AlexR]

I love the stuff, but it is very expensive to buy prepared (I live outside the US).

Of course, I have surfed the Web, and there are ideed a bunch of recipes out there, but I would be delighted to receive some feedback from somone who likes Caesar salads as much as me, and who has fine-tuned a dressing that suits them to a tee.

Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Alex R.

 

[Andy M.]

Caesar Salad Dressing

1 Egg Yolk
2 Garlic
2 Tb Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Tb Lemon juice
2 Oz Anchovy filets
TT Black Pepper
1/2 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, grated

Place the yolk, garlic, mustard, salt, lemon juice, anchovies and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.

With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Do not continue to blend after all the oil has been added.

Toss the salad with the dressing, cheese and croutons.

 

[AlexR]

Thanks Andy

I joined this forum about an hour ago, and your help was lightenting quick!

I'll print this out and try it next week when my wife's away on vacation (she likes milder food).

Thanks a lot,
Alex R.

 

[kitchenelf]

Mine is very similar but with the addition of Worchestershire and a bit of red wine vinegar.

 

[Ishbel]

KitchenElf
I'm really interested in your answer to this question.

Do you pronounce Worcestershire exactly how you typed it?

 

[AlexR]

Worcestershire sauce

Go to this link http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
and type in Worcestershire sauce and this is what you find
(hey, they'll actually pronounce it for you).

Main Entry: Worces·ter·shire sauce
Pronunciation: 'wus-t&(r)-"shir-, -sh&r- also -"shIr-
Function: noun
Etymology: Worcestershire, England, where it was originally made
: a pungent sauce whose ingredients include soy, vinegar, and garlic

Two points of trivia:

1) Although this sauce is English, the British say "Worcester sauce" and not "Worcestershire".

2) The major firm to make this sauce, Lee & Perrins, is actually French owned (Danone group).

Best regards,
Alex R.

 

[kitchenelf]

Wooster or Wuster is how it's pronounced

My Caesar salad dressing makes a large amount so you will have to scale it down quite a bit - but here is my recipe:

1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
8 whole eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup anchovy paste
1 cup chopped garlic
1 cup Dijon mustard
2 cups olive oil
2 cups grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 talll skinny jars non-peril capers

Mix red wine vinegar and slowly mix in oil with a wisk. Add eggs, lemon juice, anchovy paste, garlic, Dijon mustard and cheese.

Makes 1 gallon

Sometimes I used slices of red onion, sometimes I don't.

People say there are only yolks in a Caesar but this is my recipe and it's wonderful. I have actually just added 2 whole eggs and used just egg whites from the rest of the eggs. I look at the eggs as the transportation to get everything else mixed around the romaine.

I rinse each leaf and roll in several dish towels and place in refrigerator. They will stay very crisp this way. When I'm ready I pull off the very green tops as they can be bitter sometimes and the very hard bottoms. I have a wooden Caesar salad bowl that I use for nothing but Caesar salads. I always make my dressing in that and sometimes I will lay a piece of plastic wrap on top and then place my already torn romaine on top.

To make the croutons I use a baguette, sliced in 1/4 or so inch slices. Mix olive oil (and in this all dried herbs are fine) basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Toss the baguette slices with this mixture and brown in a hot oven, tossing occasionally to bring the ones from the bottom to the top. Once these are fully cooled they can be stored in a glass container with a lid - they are GREAT to snack on!

 

[Ishbel]

Alix
Yes, I know how to pronouce it - I was slightly discomknockerated by the spelling of WorcHestershire! Believe me, I've heard many an American pronouce it that way instead of Wooster!
And yes, we DO call it Wooster Sors....

I'd also like a pound for every time (when living in London) American tourists asked the way to LIE SESTER square - (it's Lester!)

 

[kitchenelf]

lol Ishbel - yes, everyone here pretty much pronounces it worsetershire - hey, and don't be sayin' stuff like discomknockerated here - could get you penalized

(love that word but I'll have to print it out and carry it with me to remember it!!!)

 

[Ishbel]

Elf

Heheheeee
I've said it before 'Two nations separated by a common language'!!!

Discomknockerated? You mean that isn't part of the American vocabulary.....? You amaze me!!!!

It means - as far as I know 'knocked sideways'.... 'all of a tizzy' etc!

 

[kitchenelf]

I think it's translated here into whompupsidethehead

 

[Shunka]

I know that meaning by "discombobbalated!"

 

[ironchef]

Alex, just remember that NO recipe is fail-proof if it is not done right.

 

[AllenOK]

lol Ishbel - yes, everyone here pretty much pronounces it worsetershire - hey, and don't be sayin' stuff like discomknockerated here - could get you penalized

(love that word but I'll have to print it out and carry it with me to remember it!!!)

Discomknockerated? ROFL! How about "discombobulated"?

Here's my recipe for Caesar. It's scaled-down from one of the 4-gallon yield recipes that I've made at work. I haven't made it at home to test it. I have serious doubts about the 3/4 CUP of cracked black pepper. I don't have the original recipe here at home to double-check it.

Note that I have a tip about wrapping the mixer with plastic wrap. This is a for a Stand mixer, like a Kitchenaid. Make sure that nothing extends into the mixing bowl, or the whisk will rip it up and into the dressing.

You can cheat, by pouring the mustard, pepper, salt, Worcestershire, anchovies, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and egg yolks into a large container, and mixing it with an immersion blender (Emeril's "boat motor"). Add the oil and vinegar in a slow, steady stream, while blending.

Caesar Dressing
Yields: 1 pt

1 t Dijon mustard
¾ c cracked black pepper
3/8 t salt
1 t Worcestershire
One 2 oz tin of anchovies, puréed
1 T parmesan
3 t minced garlic
½ t lemon juice
1 egg yolk

1 ½ c salad oil
2 ½ T red wine vinegar

In the bottom of a mixing bowl, add the Dijon mustard, pepper, salt, Worcestershire, anchovies, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and egg yolks. Mix thoroughly. Place bowl on machine, and wrap with plastic wrap to enclose the bowl. Open a small hole to pour the remaining liquids. Start stirring with the whisk attachment on a High speed. Alternately add the oil and red wine vinegar in a slow, steady stream, until a smooth, uniform mixture is formed.

 

[Ishbel]

I'll see your discombobulated and raise you a 'thingamejig'....

 

[AllenOK]

I'll see your discombobulated and raise you a 'thingamejig'....

I'll raise you a "thingamajiggerwhositfrick" and call.

 

[Gerrycooks]

Safe Ceasar Dressing

Please be careful when serving Caesar Salad to people with weak Immune Systems. Non Pasturized eggs can contain bacteria that can make some people ill.
Pasturized eggs are easy to find in grocery stores.
I would never make a recipe using raw eggs without using Pasturized eggs and I think recipes using them should automatically contain this warnig.
I'll get off my soap box now. thanks for reading this.
Ps my immune system is compromised.

 

[kadesma]

Elf

Heheheeee
I've said it before 'Two nations separated by a common language'!!!

Discomknockerated? You mean that isn't part of the American vocabulary.....? You amaze me!!!!

It means - as far as I know 'knocked sideways'.... 'all of a tizzy' etc!

Ishbel, I love it I'm adding it to my dad's favorite dicumbooberated...He would never tell us what it meant, but, it worked everytime he said it, stopped us in our tracks!!!
kadesma

 

[Andy M.]

Salmonella can be a serious problem for folks with compromised immune systems. I wish your statement about pasteurized being easy to find was true. The markets I frequent don't carry them even though I ask for them.

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks GerryCook - I am always very cautious about using eggs - I will sustitute with virtually no harm to the dressing Egg Beaters or something like them. They work just fine in those situations. Intimate dinner at home with healthy people I don't have a problem - large crowd with several elderly NO WAY! I just assume everyone knows that - thanks for pointing them out.

I can get pasturized eggs here. Can you coddle them to make them safe?