Saturday, January 8, 2011

StoneGable Caesar Salad



Caesar Salad is a big favorite at StoneGable. It is served for lunch or dinner at least once or twice a week.

If you have been a follower for any length of time, you have seen Caeser Salad  often on the weekly menu. 
Homemade dressing makes all the difference in the world!!!!!!

This is the BEST CAESAR SALAD YOU WILL EVER EAT... not bragging, only truth!

It's really all about the dressing!

I make mine in a blender, but it could be made by hand as well.  

Make a double or triple batch and freeze the leftover dressing in ice cube trays. Pop out the frozen dressing and keep it frozen in a ziplock freezer bag or a plastic container.  When you want to make a caesar salad take out a couple cubes and let thaw. Easy, convenient and extraordinarily yummy!

These great disposable containers, from a restaurant supply store, are perfect for  freezing leftover dressing.





This is a recipe to try! It will surely be a favorite!






StoneGable Caesar Salad

Lettuce
2 heads of romaine, rinsed, dried and torn into pieces or 1 bag of romaine lettuce



Homemade Croutons

These are so easy and economical. And they taste WONDERFUL!
1 loaf day old crusty bread (I had an Italian baguette in the freezer)
olive oil or butter
seasonings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I always keep crusty bread in the freezer. When a loaf gets a little old, I make croutons. If you have a fresh loaf, leave it out to get a little stale. One or two day old bread from the grocer's is perfect!






Cube bread and put it on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Drizzle olive oil (or melted butter, or both) over bread cubes. Sprinkle with garlic salt and herbs of your choice. I sprinkled on a very light dash of Tuscan herbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes, turning once until they are golden brown. Cooking time depends on the denseness and freshness of the bread. Watch your croutons closely, I always seem to burn mine!






Dressing
2 large garlic cloves (use 1 if you like less garlic)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce (I have a heavy hand with Worcestershire)
4 anchovy fillets~ don't skip this!
juice of 1 lemon (I use 2- I like it lemmony)
1/2 ~2/3 cup LIGHT olive oil or vegetable oil
 coddled egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
pepper

Add To Salad
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

To Make Dressing
Coddle egg and set aside.
To coddle egg: Boil enough water in a small saucepan to cover an egg.  Once the water is boiling, add an egg in it's shell. Turn off heat and let it sit for 1  1/2 minutes. Take it out of boiling water to stop cooking. (When you crack the egg it will look raw. The white part of the egg will look just slightly opaque near the shell.) If you don't want to coddle an egg, use egg substitute. See note above.

Put the garlic, mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, anchovy fillets and lemon juice in the blender. Process until smooth.






While the blender is running add a continuous stream of oil, very slowly. Process until oil is incorporated.
Add coddled egg. Process until incorporated. If you add egg substitute the dressing will be a little thick, almost like a garlic lemon mayonnaise, but delicious.

Add pepper and process.






To Assemble Ceasar Salad

Put lettuce in a large salad bowl.
Add dressing. Toss well to cover all the lettuce. Don't overdress salad. It should not drip in dressing, but be lightly coated.

Add Parmesan cheese and croutons.













Toss. And plate.







Add intensly flavored chopped anchovy if your are adventurous.
Delicious!!!!!






YOU WILL LOVE THIS SALAD!


Remember to


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53 comments:

  1. I haven't made a ceasar salad in awhile...I will make one tomorrow for lunch! Sounds wonderful! (I try to have a salad for lunch every day!)

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  2. It is beautiful! Garlic is not my friend...and a Ceasar without it just isn't a Ceasar, so I don't eat this anymore. Old age...ugh!

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  3. Oh my goodness! Your blog is GORGEOUS! Thanks so much for leaving a comment on mine so I could find yours. I am your newest follower.

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  4. Oh, how I LOVE Ceasar Salad and StoneGable's version looks heavenly!

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  5. LOVE Caesar Salad! I have a serious craving now~ thanks for the yummy dressing recipe :-)

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  6. Thank you for such precise instructions, and the photos - oh my! I can just taste that crispy lettuce and crunchy croutons. You burn them - ever? No I dont believe that! so glad I found your blog :)

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  7. Caesar salad is one of my all-time favorites! With a good dressing, good parm and homemade croutons, there is nothing better.

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  8. Absolutely do not omit the anchovies!! Beautiful photographs make me want to pull up a chair and pick up a fork!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  9. I LOOOOVE Ceasar salad so I am sure YOURS will be the BEST! Can't wait to tr your recipe!!! I have to go get some anchovies:):) XO, Pinky

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  10. I do love Caesar salad -- it just has the right bite to it. Yvonne love yours and I do like homemade croutons -- what a good idea to have some crusty bread around to make them at a moment's notice. Joni

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  11. Love Ceasar salad and I agree there is nothing like homemade dressing. I do leave out the anchovies with mine. The worcestershire I find adds enough of the anchovy for us. Yours looks beautiful. I have never tried a dressing with egg though. I am definitely going to have to give this one a try.

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  12. I don't comment often but check your blog out all the time!

    I have made this dressing before and it is fantastic! Along with many of your other recipes! Those pictures are gorgeous! You are such a talent!

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  13. I love a good Caeser salad and yours look delicious! Thanks!!

    Donna

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  14. My guys are huge fans of ceasar salads. Looks so yummy!!

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  15. love your photos!!

    i will be sure to try this recipe soon.

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  16. I have been craving both Caesar salad and a trip to the restaurant supply store. Now you've given me reason to fulfill both cravings. Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration .

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  17. Hi Yvonne,
    really delicious.
    Greetings, Johanna

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  18. Wow, sounds easy and delicious. I didn't know salad dressings are okay to freeze until now! :) Thanks for sharing!

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  19. Yummm, look delicious! I made your Thursday night menu suggestion last night and my meat and potato husband loved it. Off to see what is for dinner tonight.

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  20. I LOVE Caesar Salad! Fantastic pics Yvonne:@)

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  21. Hi Yvonne....thank you so much for such a lovely comment you left at the farm the other day....your salad looks delicious!

    xo+blessings,
    Anne Marie

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  22. Definitely one of our very favorites also..All the ingredients are favorites of ours..even your eggshells look good:)

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  23. Yvonne,
    I just copied your Ceasar Salad recipe! My son and daughter~in~law always order this when we're out and about. Now, I can surprise them at our next family get together. . .along with some frozen dressing and a recipe card to take home!thanks for sharing this with us!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  24. I'm going to make a double batch today. Love that I can freeze this and take out only what I need for a meal. I wouldn't dream of leaving out the anchovies.

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  25. Yum, I'm so hungry right now and your Cesar salad looks as good if not better than any I've ever had in a restaurant. Thanks for sharing the recipe Yvonne.

    PS...Hubby is down with the flu and I'll be serving him chicken soup tonight ala Yvonne. It is without a doubt the best chicken soup I've ever had.

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  26. I love ceasar salad. I'll definitely try this receipe.

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  27. What a great recipe but your photos are gorgeous.

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  28. Yummy~ this is a perfect meal in itself for me; I'm not surprised to see you have the "real deal" dressing!

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  29. Yvonne, I love that you have a heavy hand with Worcester. If my suspicions are correct this will give the dressing a little extra zing. My family enjoys Caesar salad, but I have never tried the home made dressing. Thank you for the recipe. Just wondering, do the anchovies come from a can?

    Enjoy your weekend.

    -Rene

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  30. Caesar salad is delicious, but I've never been adventurous enough to make the dressing myself...it's the anchovies that get me! Maybe someday I'll get "anchovy paste"...that might do the trick.

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  31. We sure do love Caesar salad around here! Never made the dressing myself, though. I'd love to try - if I can get up the courage to buy the anchovies!

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  32. Hi Yvonne, Ceasar salad is my absolute favorite! I haven't made this at home for quite a while but now I am looking forward to trying your dressing recipe.
    Hugs,
    Sherry

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  33. Caesar Salad is my husbands favorite. I've made it once, I will be trying your recipe soon. This looks delicious.

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  34. I AM making this this weekend. We both love Ceasar salad and this looks absolutely yummy!!! Wow and you are so right this is incredibly easy. Thanks so very much for sharing this. You speak to my heart!

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  35. That would make a great dinner along with your baked potato soup! I make that all the time now... Its even requested by my adult kiddos who come over for dinner!
    Thanks so much Yvonne!
    Rainey

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  36. I love salads and this one looks delicious! I can't wait to try the recipe.

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  37. I never knew what a coddled egg was until I read your post--this salad looks amazing!!

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  38. Thanks for the recipe! This looks so yummy, I could just eat it off the computer screen! I am going to make this, but will add grilled chicken to make a meal out of it.

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  39. I'm in heaven.. I made the dressing.. this is soooo good. I too have a heavy worcestershire hand and love garlic and love lemon.. so I made it just like yours.. it's amazing.. thank you so much for sharing this!!

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  40. I remember when they used to make this at the tables in nice restaurants here in NY. They would mash the anchovies into the wooden bowl, so it flavored it, but you didn't get a piece of it. I haven't seen it done like that in ages.
    Yours looks delicious. I do a sprinkle of Parm Reg. on the croutons as they bake too.
    I don't think Ceasar qualifies as diet food! Such a shame! :)
    Have a wonderful Sunday, Yvonne!

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  41. I had never thought of freezing salad dressing. What a great and easy idea! Your salad looks so yummy, I can see why you have it often!

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  42. Your photography is always so beautiful that it turns me pea green with envy. The salad is not only beautiful to look at, it sounds delicious as well. The croutons are an added bonus. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  43. Yvonne, I did send you an e-mail about lunch. Did you get it? XO, Pinky

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  44. What a beautiful blog; you photos are oustanding. That Ceasar salad is impressive; have not made one in a loong time; will try your recipe soon.

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  45. So glad I found you from wives with knives, what a lovely site with great photos. New follower!

    anne
    www.anniebakes.net

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  46. What a great Caesar salad. It's one of our favorites in our kitchen. I'm visiting from Cathy's Wives with Knives and she's right - you have a fabulous blog and your photos are outstanding.
    Sam

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  47. Hi, Yvonne....

    I LOVE your blog....so many wonderful topics and terrific recipes! As I was flipping down through it, I saw this one that I somehow missed when it was originally posted.

    My family would eat a Caesar salad over any other salad in the world and we've expanded it to include grilled flank steak, or grilled salmon, or even fried chicken when we had it leftover.....any reason to make one is okay with us.

    Thank you for sharing the dressing recipe....I'm going to make it as soon as possible!

    Have a wonderful week, Yvonne!

    Now I'm jetting over to your other blog....another of my favs!

    See you,
    Sue

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  48. How many people will this serve do you think? Or if you could just tell me how much dressing it makes that will probably be fine too! I'm having my family over for dinner and want a good caesar salad to go with the soup I'm making and this looks beautiful! I'm wondering if I should double the ingredients for the dressing... Thanks!

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  49. I could eat a Caesar Salad every day.. it's one of the only foods in my life that I've developed cravings for!
    Yours' looks perfect. I "pinned" your recipe in case I get brave enough to make my own dressing. Much thanks, and lovely photos too!

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  50. yummy!! I have a 12 year old son who eats few veggies and turns his nose up at lots of food. He asks for this salad twice a week (has no idea what's in it;). Thank you ;)

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