My tip for the week is how to make a delicious Caesar salad dressing without using any raw or coddle egg yolk. Dijon mustard takes the place of the egg yolk to become the emulsifier. Here is my simple recipe – I don’t normally measure it but here goes.
CAESAR SALAD DRESSING
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
A pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small clove of garlic minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice or sherry wine vinegar
½ to 3/4 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil
Mix the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, fresh ground black pepper, minced garlic and the lemon juice or sherry wine vinegar. Slowly wisk in the extra virgin olive oil until the dressing fully emulsifies (gets thick). Taste the finished product and adjust salt, pepper and/or lemon juice or vinegar.
This can be made in advance and refridgerated.
Adjusting your acid in this dressing and herbs creates many different vinaigrettes, i.e. red wine vinegar and oregano for a dressing for a Greek salad, Balsamic vinegar for a Italian Caprese Salad.
The components in a vinaigrette are:
-Acidity (vinegars, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice etc.)
-Emulsifier (I always use mustard)
-Oil (Extra Virgin, Walnut, Vegetable, Canola, whatever your oil reference might be)
-Seasonings (sea salt, fresh ground pepper, dried herbs, fresh herbs, spices etc)
Oil to Acid ratio 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 (I like my dressing more acidic so I usually use 3 to 1)
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Comments
I don't think it's really Caesar without the mustard, just anotherr vinaigrette. With the acid in it, surely the egg is safe.
No anchovies?!? I grew up eating tons of Caesar salads. My mother is the master of the Caesar. When I moved out of her house and on my own, I tried for years to make the dressing as well as she does. I realized I was finally a grown woman when, after many years of trying, did so. We've both always used ground mustard in the dressing. Thanks for this post, I'm a huge fan of Caesar salad.
Nicole:
Actually they have the anchovies in the the Worshestershire Sauce. Since most people AREN'T fans of anchovies I add them later...I do sometimes smash up one or two in the dressing. I was thinking more of the general population.
I saw tableside where they smashed some of the croutons into the base of the dressing to help emulsify it. I do that sometimes as well. I wanted to keep it simple.
Thanks for posting.
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