Debbie's Caesar Salad Dressing

My friend Debbie, a Certified Personal Chef, posted to her Twitter that she served a Caesar Salad recently and that 18 people asked for THIRDS. I love Caesar salad and asked for her recipe. She kindly shared it with me.

Direct from Debbie with her comments:

2-3 garlic cloves, pressed, finely minced (I use 3 or more because we like it with lots of garlic and a "bite")
4 anchovy filets in oil (I don't pat them dry)
1t pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1-2t Worcestershire Sauce
1-2t Dijon mustard
1 large egg yolk
1/4-1/3c olive oil (depends on how large egg is and depends on if you're at the low or high end of each ingredient used)
1-2T fresh lemon juice (we like it more lemony so use 2T or more)
1-2 heads romaine lettuce, torn into 1" pieces (depending on how large the heads are)
1/2c parmesan cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler
sourdough croutons (freshly baked with olive oil, salt flakes and dried parsley)

Place garlic and anchovy on cutting board and keep chopping until it's a thick brownish paste with no pieces or chunks (doing it this way, people will get the anchovy taste without the bones and they'll never know it has anchovies in it).

Place garlic/anchovy paste in large bowl - add pepper, cayenne, Worcestershire Sauce, Dijon and egg yolk. Whisk well. Very slowly whisk in olive oil until you have a thick emulsion and it's the consistency and taste you like. Finally, whisk in lemon juice and adjust all seasonings to taste. Keep whisking while tasting and adding anything else. Add romaine into bowl and toss well.

Serve immediately with sourdough croutons and shaved parmesan. I don't add the lettuce until I'm ready to plate as if it sits, the lettuce tends to get soggy.

I've found that if you add the lemon last after the oil has been whisked in, the dressing doesn't separate for a long time.

You can visit Debbie's Yummy blog at:
http://www.yummyissimo.blogspot.com/

I made this dressing the other day and it was very good! Leftover dressing stayed in the fridge without any problems. No seperation. It still tasted fresh when I dunked a romaine leaf in for a snack.

I liked the part where the lemon juice was added at the end, gave it a fresher zip. The cayenne is a very good add.

I still had some fresh romaine so I made another salad for lunch today and took the picture above. Yummy! I actually think this would be great on roasted veggies.