Tony’s Super
Caesar Salad
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 large head of fresh Romaine Lettuce
Optional: a few leaves of baby green spinach leaves
1 egg (pasteurized, if salmonella makes you nervous)
1 fresh lemon
Optional: 1/2 tablespoon of fresh sour cream
(note: sour cream will add some creaminess, but also calories,
to this otherwise low calorie salad)
4-6 medium cloves of garlic
Use several too many cranks of fresh ground black
pepper
1 tin of flat fillet anchovies or less (to taste)
½ teaspoon of mustard powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon of Lowry’s Seasoning Salt
2-3 oz. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of high quality Red Wine or Balsamic vinegar
1 heaping cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (use Parmigiano
Reggiano, be bold!)
1 box of “Generous Cut” Large Croutons
Add generous amounts of love, care and attention to little details
Directions:
Thoroughly wash the Romaine lettuce. Start tearing
off stalks and rip them into bite-sized pieces. Do not cut the
lettuce with a knife, or it will brown the edges. Discard the
heavy white stalk pieces near the base of the lettuce. We need
green leafy surface area for the sauce to adhere to and not
so much of the "Krispy Krunch" from the base of the
plant.
Dry the lettuce well with a spinner and/or tumble
in a large bowl with three quality sheets of paper towels. The
lettuce surface needs to be dry for the sauce to adhere properly!
Cut up the cloves of garlic into slices, and
then dice them to a very fine consistency. No big chunks to
overwhelm the taste buds...
Cut the anchovies lengthwise so they are in
tiny pieces, and then smush them with your thumb right on the
cutting board. Anchovies are going to add flavor to the sauce.
No intact fillets allowed.
Grab your fresh lemon and roll it agressively
on the countertop to break away all the juice inside. Be careful
when you cut the lemon in half to not lose the juice.
Separate the yolk from the white of the egg
and get rid of the yolk or feed it to a handy pet on the floor
in their dish. If you know how to separate the yolk from the
white in the eggshell, fine. If not, crack the egg into a small
bowl, making sure the yolk is intact. Using a spoon, hold the
yolk back and run the whites into your stainless steel salad
mixture bowl.
Add the finely chopped and smushed anchovies,
minced garlic, sugar, mustard powder, Lowry’s salt and
Worcestershire sauce. Add the lemon juice by squeezing each
half over your opposite cupped hand, and let the juice drain
between your fingers. The seeds will stay in your hand that
way. Do not let any seeds into the sauce mixture, dag nabbit.
With a large spoon, mash the mixture together,
making sure the anchovies turn to paste. Not that many people
like whole chunks of anchovies to show up in a single bite of
salad. If they do, save a couple of whole fillets from the tin
and put them in a dish on the serving table.
Once it has turned into a mash, add some olive
oil to turn it into a good slurry. Whisk well to make sure all
ingredients have become one and they all know each other personally.
Add the slurry mixture to the large bowl of
torn lettuce pieces. Toss well, to cover all of the pieces.
Add the rest of the olive oil and the vinegar.
Toss again to coat evenly.
Add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and toss
again.
Let the bowl stand until it reaches room temperature.
Do not refrigerate, as the chilled state will diminish the flavors.
Right before serving, add the croutons and toss
again. Crank the fresh ground pepper over the salad using a
pepper grinder.
Serve to the delight of your guests. They will
all kiss you.
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