Before I went to culinary school or even knew I was going to go culinary school I loved to cook. I would call my mom and tell her what I wanted to make and then she would walk me through it. My first Caesar salad I bought sardines instead of anchovies and when I called my mom to walk me through the recipe she told me sardines could absolutely not be used instead of anchovies. The best part was I tried to convince her they were an acceptable ingredient. Alas she was right as she always is. Thank goodness!
Directions:
Croutons: Cut ciabatta bread into bite-size cubes. Toss the bread with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Place the sheet pan in the oven and toast the bread at 325 for 5-10 minutes or until the bread is toasted. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
Lettuce: Cut the growing off completely and remove the outer leaves of the romaine lettuce. Next chop it into 1-2 in pieces (some restaurants remove the top because the leaves are not as flavorful and the dark green color isn’t as pretty in the salad but do which ever you like). Next wash it in a bowl with cold water and repeat the wash two more times. Set the lettuce aside with paper towels to remove the water.
Dressing: Soft boil the egg by cooking it in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Use only the yolk from the egg and discard the rest. Smash garlic with a fork in the bowl with the yolk. When the garlic is completely minced add the anchovies, mustard, Tabasco, Worcestershire and then the lemon juice into the mixture (pick out the seeds if there are any). Next slowly add the oil drop by drop while vigorously whisking the fork to emulsify (turn into a creamy mixture) the dressing. Once all of the oil has been added add the Parmesan and continue whisking. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Add cold water if the dressing seems to thick.
Add the chopped lettuce, croutons and cheese to the bowl with the dressing. Toss everything together and season it with salt and pepper.
The salad should be piled as high as it can get, but be aware that because of the dressing it will tend to be flat and height-less. The perfect way to garnish this salad is by cracking fresh pepper over the top.
Tip: This dressing is very sensitive to heat so it must be refrigerated at all times when it is not being used, and it will only keep for the day.
