Caesar Dressing

The Caesar Dressing is a labor of love. Yes, it is time consuming and requires a proper technique, but when done properly, it is excellent!

If you have the patience and possibly someone else who can relieve you of whisking, it greatly helps! But there is definitely a proper technique to emulsifying the dressing.

What does emulsify mean?

When emulsifying, you are combining fats and liquids to hold together smoothly

There is a lot of fat (olive oil) in salad dressing. Egg yolks (fat also) and Dijon mustard work to help disperse fat molecules throughout the ingredients in salad dressing. Let’s get into the mixing.

EQUIPMENT

• Chef’s knife
• cutting board
• whisk
• mixing bowl – not metal
• microplane

The large width of blade of the chef’s knife is imperative for making a paste.

I find if I use a nonreactive/non-metal bowl, the flavor is more pure. I know stainless steel is supposed to be nonreactive, but to me the flavor is different.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 anchovy fillets, packed in oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (Maille is my fave)
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, use the microplane to grate it finely
• fresh ground black pepper – to taste

It is important to have the ingredients prepped before you start. I admit, I make many recipes on the fly, but this is not one to do that with.

This includes measuring out your ingredients and placing them in little containers to make your life easier. Shred and measure the Parm, have a liquid measuring cup with olive oil in it, place the lemon juice in a small cup, and the mustard in a small bowl.

Making a paste of the garlic, salt, & anchovies is an important factor in emulsification. When the particles are smaller, they will suspend in the dressing so much better than bigger chunks.

-Chop the anchovies and garlic together. Sprinkle with the salt. The coarse salt with help break down the anchovy/garlic mixture into a paste. With the flat side of the chef’s knife, grind the salt into the garlic and anchovies on a cutting board. Mix it and mash it until its a smooth paste.

-Add the 3 egg yolks to the bowl. I use a large porcelain salad bowl that came with my dinnerware set. Whisk the egg yolks until smooth. This won’t take very long.

-Add the teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the whisked egg yolks. Then add the garlic/anchovy paste. Next add lemon juice as you whisk.

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-OK Here’s the tough technique. In order for this dressing to come out correctly, you MUST whisk in the olive oil, DROP BY DROP (at least in the beginning). This is part of the emulsifying process. You also must whisk constantly. Yes, it seems to take forever, but again, the smaller the particles (even droplets of oil), the easier they are to disperse throughout the dressing. As you continue to add the oil drop by drop while whisking, you can soon increase the flow of olive oil to pencil-thin stream. Continue to whisk until add olive oil as been added and dressing has thickened.

-Add finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and whisk. Add black pepper to taste.

That’s it! Once you have the olive oil streaming and whisking method down, it’s so much easier!

Add the dressing to my impressive Grilled Caesar Salad

Caesar dressing is also delicious for dipping grilled artichokes, roasted broccoli, roasted new potatoes, raw veggies, really anything dippable!

HELPFUL TIP: If you have decided to use a stainless steel or other lightweight bowl, place a damp towel under the bowl to prevent the bowl from rocking and sliding all over from the force of whisking constantly.