caesar salad

Poached Chicken Breast and Roasted Sweet Pepper Caesar Salad with Basil Pesto

Serves 4

Cos Lettuce:

2 heads cos lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite – size pieces

Poached Chicken Breast:

1 teaspoon chicken stock powder

2 skinless and boneless chicken breast

500 ml water

Roasted Sweet Peppers:

1              yellow pepper  

1              red pepper

olive oil

rosemary

thyme

garlic

Caesar Dressing:

1 egg coddled

½ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

4 anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Croutons:

3 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into 2cm cubes

40ml olive oil

Poached Chicken Breast: Bring the water and the stock powder to a boil, add the chicken breast, reduce the heat to low and poach the chicken for 4 – 5 minutes, or until a medium – rare degree of doneness is achieved. Remove from the stock and let cool. Carve into thin slices.

Roasted Sweet Peppers:

Remove the seeds from the peppers and rub with olive oil. Roast in a 200ºC oven until soft and blackened. Remove from the oven, place in a metal bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the sweet peppers cool down, remove the skins and cut into strips. Place in a container with oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic.

Caesar Dressing:

Beat the egg until foamy, add the oil until a mayonnaise forms. Whisk in the remaining ingredients.

Croutons:

Drizzle the oil over the bread and bake at 160ºC until golden brown.

To Serve: Combine the lettuce, peppers, chicken and croutons with the dressing and toss together. Divide between four plates and finish with shaved parmesan cheese and basil pesto.

Table Side Caesar Salad

serves 2

Salad bowl

A good – sized unfinished wooden salad bowl is used for Caesar salad. Unfinished wood is the material of choice because its mildly rough surface allows the waiter to crush the garlic and anchovy filets into a paste that will dissolve into the dressing. A smooth – surfaced bowl would leave chunks of garlic and anchovy in the dressing, which could be jarring to the plate.

Equipment

Gueridon or work surface

Large wooden salad bowl, unfinished

Service spoon and fork

Pepper grinder filled with black peppercorns

Two chilled salad plates

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic, peeled

1 anchovy fillet

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 egg yolk

½ lemon, seeds removed

80 ml virgin olive oil, in a gooseneck bottle

1 head romaine (cos lettuce) washed and dried,

                Torn into bite – size pieces, rolled in a clean cloth napkin

4 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

¾ cup croutons

To Prepare

Place garlic clove in bowl. Break up the clove into small pieces with the fork. When pieces are small enough, crush them with the back of the spoon to create a paste. Rub the garlic paste into the wooden bowl, leaving no visible pieces of garlic. Hint: while crushing and rubbing the garlic, hold down the bowl with the free fingers of your left (fork) hand.

Repeat with the anchovy filet. Again, when finished there should be no visible sign of the garlic or anchovy. Add mustard to the bowl and distribute evenly over the bottom of the bowl. Add egg yolk, whisking lightly to combine with the mustard and to incorporate flavour from garlic and anchovy.

Take the lemon half and stick the fork into the cut side, just below the center, with the spoon held just below the fork. The fork will catch any pits that the prep cooks missed, while the juice drips into the spoon. Add the lemon juice to the bowl. Whisk it into the egg – mustard mixture with the fork.

Drizzle the olive oil in a circle around the side of the bowl, about halfway down from the edge. This allows the oil to pick up the anchovy and garlic flavor that was rubbed in. whisk in the oil, creating the finished dressing. It should be slightly thick with a pleasant yellow color, and should be heady with the aromas of garlic, anchovy, mustard and lemon.

Add the lettuce to the bowl, along with half of the grated cheese; toss the salad lightly to coat with the dressing and cheese. Ask the guests if they would like some ground black pepper, and comply with their wishes. Add the croutons and toss again to combine. Divide the salad between two chilled plates and garnish with the remaining grated cheese.