Caesar Salad with crispy croutons and creamy dressing
DESCRIPTION
One of my favorite salads! Well, I'm not quite sure it's fair to call it a salad... The few salad leaves that actually are in there have the main purpose of being the bearer of the mayonnaise-based, savory dressing....
Anyhow; who does not like the combo of crunchy bacon, crispy, juicy chicken, parmesan cheese, crispy croutons and sour and salty mayonnaise dressing? Even though it is called "salad", this recipe is not exactly made to be healthy. Think "extra everything".
INGREDIENTS (5 Portions)
Dressing
20 g parmesan
1 egg
0.5 tsp Dijon mustard
0.5 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 pinch of sugar
1 dl neutral oil (I prefer peanut oil)
0.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
0,5 tsp salt
2-3 anchovies in oil ("sardeller" in Swedish, NOT the "Janssons frestelse"-anchovies)
1 garlic clove
1 lemon
Croutons
5 slices of white bread
Generous amounts of butter and olive oil for frying
Other
1 kg chicken fillets
280 g bacon (2 packages)
2 pieces of romance lettuce
100-150 g parmesan
INSTRUCTIONS
Start with the dressing: separate the egg yolk from the white. Put the yolk in a stainless steel bowl, add 0.5 tsp Dijon mustard, 0.5 tsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 0,5-1 crushed garlic clove and a pinch of sugar. Add the oil slowly, whisking vigorously. Adjust the consistency with more oil if it is too thin, and with a splash of water if it is too thick.
Mash the anchovies with a fork and add them to the mayonnaise, along with a pinch of salt, freshly ground black pepper and 20 g of finely parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust with more anchovies/salt/parmesan and lemon juice if needed. Put aside.
Cut the bacon into strips and cook without oil on medium heat until really crisp but not burnt. Put the bacon on a plate with some kitchen towels and save the fat from the bacon (will be used for the croutons).
Cut the chicken into strips. Cook in butter and oil on medium heat until golden crisp. Put on a new plate and drizzle over some of the dressing while the chicken is still hot.
Cut the bread into squares. Fry in bacon fat, olive oil and butter on medium heat until crispy. Season with salt and pepper in the beginning. Frying croutons takes some time since you want most of the water to evaporate from the bread, that's when it starts to get crispy. Give it 10-20 minutes depending on amount of bread.
Cut the remaining parmesan cheese into sticks. Cut the salad into bite-sized chunks and put in a large bowl. Drizzle over som dressing and toss, making sure every leave is nicely coated in the dressing.
Put the salad on a plate. Top with the crispy chicken, bacon, parmesan cheese and croutons, and serve it with more dressing on the side!
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