Caesar Salad

[Slow.Patrol]

I love a Caesar Salad in this weather. So easy to do at home with a bottle of pre made sauce. However, how do restaurants get away with £14-16 for what is basically some lettuce, chicken and a few other bits?

[Mobile Chicane]

Good question. It's one of my favourites too.

However I would never eat it in a restaurant having seen too many instances of chicken left out on the bench in a roasting hot kitchen / cooked meat not temp probed. etc.

Asking for

[Silvanus]

Big fan of a good career salad, I make a few different versions with a bit of a twist

[SaulGoodman]

We used to go to Piccolino's, which was really good for a chain. They had an excellent caesar salad, but whenever we would order it they would "warn" us it contained anchovies. They were the best bit, but they regularly had complaints about them being in the dish. Ended up dropping them completely, was a real shame.

Agree about the price in some places. Years back I worked at Wetherspoons it was robbery for what you got.

[sherman]

Slow.Patrol said:

I love a Caesar Salad in this weather. So easy to do at home with a bottle of pre made sauce. However, how do restaurants get away with £14-16 for what is basically some lettuce, chicken and a few other bits?

If you think the salad is extorionate you dont want to think about how cheap that bowl of vegetarian soup you had as a starter was to make.

The croutons on your salad is the bread that didnt get used for yesterdays soup btw.

[sean ie3]

I do like a ceaser salad and it is a dish that I will order if on a menu. I really should gather the ingredients and make one at home.

[Whoozit]

It's a regular at Casa Whoozit, with dressing made from scratch. Honestly not tricky to make.

Decent crunchy lettuce
Croutons from leftover bread, baked in the oven
Chicken breast grilled until just cooked through with olive oil spray, garlic powder, tarragon, S+P

Dressing:
Add the following into a tall blender jug
1tsp of
Dijon mustard
Capers
Anchovy paste (I use Thai fish sauce cos never have anchovy paste)
Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 egg (boiled for 1 minute if you can be bothered, I microwave for 20 seconds from the fridge)
S+P

Whizz the above together. Have 150-200ml of olive oil in a pouring bottle or a jug. Pour into the blended dressing ingredients while whizzing all the time. Stop when thick enough.

Slice the chicken in bite size portions. Assemble all in bowl, mix, serve.

Edited by Whoozit on Thursday 7th September 20:57

[Silvanus]

Whoozit said:

It's a regular at Casa Whoozit, with dressing made from scratch. Honestly not tricky to make.

Decent crunchy lettuce
Croutons from leftover bread, baked in the oven
Chicken breast grilled until just cooked through with olive oil spray, garlic powder, tarragon, S+P

Dressing:
Add the following into a tall blender jug
1tsp of
Dijon mustard
Capers
Anchovy paste (I use Thai fish sauce cos never have anchovy paste)
Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 egg (boiled for 1 minute if you can be bothered, I microwave for 20 seconds from the fridge)
S+P

Whizz the above together. Have 150-200ml of olive oil in a pouring bottle or a jug. Pour into the blended dressing ingredients while whizzing all the time. Stop when thick enough.

Slice the chicken in bite size portions. Assemble all in bowl, mix, serve.

Edited by Whoozit on Thursday 7th September 20:57

If using a blender you could use a tin of anchovies, should give a better flavour than Thai fish sauce

[21TonyK]

Whoozit said:

It's a regular at Casa Whoozit, with dressing made from scratch.

Parmesan??

[Hammersia]

Silvanus said:

Whoozit said:

It's a regular at Casa Whoozit, with dressing made from scratch. Honestly not tricky to make.

Decent crunchy lettuce
Croutons from leftover bread, baked in the oven
Chicken breast grilled until just cooked through with olive oil spray, garlic powder, tarragon, S+P

Dressing:
Add the following into a tall blender jug
1tsp of
Dijon mustard
Capers
Anchovy paste (I use Thai fish sauce cos never have anchovy paste)
Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 egg (boiled for 1 minute if you can be bothered, I microwave for 20 seconds from the fridge)
S+P

Whizz the above together. Have 150-200ml of olive oil in a pouring bottle or a jug. Pour into the blended dressing ingredients while whizzing all the time. Stop when thick enough.

Slice the chicken in bite size portions. Assemble all in bowl, mix, serve.

Edited by Whoozit on Thursday 7th September 20:57

If using a blender you could use a tin of anchovies, should give a better flavour than Thai fish sauce

+1

Thai fish sauce no way.

Anchovies for the win. Slightly meaty ones, gorgeous.

[Whoozit]

21TonyK said:

Parmesan??

I'm one of those for whom grated Parmesan smells and tastes like sweaty socks. Love slices of it, just not on top of stuff. Served on the side.

[InformationSuperHighway]

Slow.Patrol said:

I love a Caesar Salad in this weather. So easy to do at home with a bottle of pre made sauce. However, how do restaurants get away with £14-16 for what is basically some lettuce, chicken and a few other bits?

Isn’t that true of almost any restaurant dish? Half the price or less to make it at home.. yet there you are in prime real estate, served by a waiter, cooked by a chef, or plates washed for you etc etc..

[anonymous-user]

Mobile Chicane said:

Good question. It's one of my favourites too.

However I would never eat it in a restaurant having seen too many instances of chicken left out on the bench in a roasting hot kitchen / cooked meat not temp probed. etc.

Asking for

Chicken?

[M5-911]

Mobile Chicane said:

Good question. It's one of my favourites too.

However I would never eat it in a restaurant having seen too many instances of chicken left out on the bench in a roasting hot kitchen / cooked meat not temp probed. etc.

Asking for

Caesar salad has no chicken.

[Gargamel]

150 ml of olive oil is over 1000 calories...

[anonymous-user]

Gargamel said:

150 ml of olive oil is over 1000 calories...

My guess is you wouldn't even consume a quarter of the dressing made with that amount of oil in one serving...

[Silvanus]

M5-911 said:

Mobile Chicane said:

Good question. It's one of my favourites too.

However I would never eat it in a restaurant having seen too many instances of chicken left out on the bench in a roasting hot kitchen / cooked meat not temp probed. etc.

Asking for

Caesar salad has no chicken.

A lot of restaurants have chicken Caesar salad on the menu. Seen a few places where they offer it as an extra to make it a bit more substantial. Although I agree it's not included in an authentic career.

I make a caesar variation where I coat large sardine fillets (pilchards) in course breadcrumbs that are seasoned with finely chopped anchovies. Cook up until nice and crisp and serve on top of the salad. A very tasty twist.

[Kermit power]

Silvanus said:

Big fan of a good career salad, I make a few different versions with a bit of a twist

Personally I prefer it when my salads haven't been around long enough to develop a career of their own, regardless of how accomplished they may become in their chosen field!

[Kermit power]

I'm going to have to try making one myself now! How long does the sauce last once made?

The very best one I ever had was in a hotel in Egypt of all places, freshly prepared from scratch - sauce and all - at the side of the table.

[anonymous-user]

Kermit power said:

I'm going to have to try making one myself now! How long does the sauce last once made?

The very best one I ever had was in a hotel in Egypt of all places, freshly prepared from scratch - sauce and all - at the side of the table.

Depends how you make it. If you use fresh egg yolks (which you really should) then expect it to last as long as homemade mayo, so 1-2 weeks. If you make it with shop bought mayo, then a lot longer.