Last February I held a Caesar Salad Shoot Out, in which I tried three Caesar salad recipes side by side. Chris Kimball’s 1997 recipe won. But now the new issue of Cook’s Illustrated (January/February 2011) has a new Caesar salad recipe. The most dramatic change was the croutons, which were prepared on the stove and mixed with 1/4 cup of water to keep them soft. I prefer their 2011 recipe for the dressing, though it’s only a slight change from their 1997 recipe.

In general, I would give the dressing 5 stars. It was brighter than his 1997 recipe, and he omitted the egg white, which I think only diluted the flavor. The extra lemon (optional in step 4 below) added better flavor. The croutons were only 2-1/2 stars. Although I let them cook on the stove for 15 minutes (the recipe only called for 7 to 10), the outside was only slightly crispy. The croutons tasted soaked as I ate them.

Rating: 5 stars for dressing. 2-1/2 stars for croutons. Cost: $3. How much work? Middle; due to croutons. How big is a disaster? Low. Start time 5:00 PM. Dinner time 6:00 PM.

Here is the cook’s illustrated link to Crouton’s recipe:

5 tablespoons

extra virgin olive oil 1 medium clove, pressed 5 cups 3/4-inch ciabatta cubes 1/4 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Combine 1 tablespoon of oil and garlic paste in a small bowl; Let marinate. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl. Sprinkle with water and salt. Stir, squeezing gently so that the bread absorbs water.
2. Place the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil and soaked bread cubes in a 12-inch nonstick skillet.
3. Stir every few minutes, cook over medium-high heat, until golden brown and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, push the croutons to the sides of the pan to

4. clear the center, add the garlic/oil mixture to the cleaning and cook with the residual heat of the pan, 10 seconds

.

5. Sprinkle with Parmesan; mix until evenly distributed. Transfer the croutons to the bowl; reserve.

Here is the cook’s illustrated link to the Caesar salad recipe:

1 large garlic clove, pressed 3 tablespoons Lemon juice 1/2

teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 6 anchovy fillets, chopped and crushed in a paste with fork 2 large egg yolks 5 tablespoons canola oil 5 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 1-1/2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3/4 cup) Ground black pepper 2-1/2 hearts of romaine lettuce Cut the romaine lettuce into

1. 3/4 inch thick slices; Then rinse and dry.
2. Whisk the garlic and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice together in a large bowl; Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat the Worcestershire sauce, anchovies and egg yolks in a mixture of garlic and lemon juice. While beating constantly, drizzle canola oil and extra virgin olive oil in a bowl. Beat until fully emulsified. Finally, add 1/2 cup of parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
4. Add the cut romaine lettuce to the bowl and mix until evenly covered. Add the croutons and mix gently until evenly distributed. Add 1 additional tablespoon of lemon juice (optional). Serve immediately, adding the last 1/4 cup of Parmesan separately.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 16th, 2010 at 8:43 a.m. and is filed under 2010 New Recipe, 5 Star Recipes, Main Course, Salad. You can follow any response to this post via the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a reply or trackback from your own site.