Pearl Oyster Bar Caesar Salad
Updated Nov. 11, 2023
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2eggs
- ⅔cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1teaspoon dry mustard
- 3tablespoons lemon juice
- Coarse salt or kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4slices day old bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2small heads romaine lettuce (a mixture of red and green, if available), trimmed, large leaves discarded
- 4anchovies, rinsed, dried and finely minced
- ¼cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
525 calories; 43 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 28 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 814 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Fill a small pan with water and bring it to a boil. Add the eggs and coddle for about 45 seconds. Remove from the water. In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, garlic and dry mustard. Crack the eggs into the olive oil and whisk. Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Step 2
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Toast the bread cubes on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes; they should not brown. Tear lettuce into a large bowl. Add anchovies, Parmesan, croutons and half the dressing. Toss until leaves are generously coated. Taste, adding more dressing, anchovies or salt if needed. Place a handful on each of four plates.
Private Notes
Comments
The 45 second coddling method only kills bacteria on the egg shell surface! Since there is a chance of salmonella inside the egg, this is not a sufficient method for pasteurization. Even the ninth edition of The Profession Chef (CIA) has this wrong!
See for instance http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2672.1997.00253.x/abst....
Seventy five minutes in water at 135F, easily done with sous vide (water immersion) heater is needed for in shell egg pasteurization.
The anchovies should be crushed as in a mortar and pestle so there are no 'bits' of them in the dressing; the Worcestershire sauce is missing -- and truthfully, that's an awful lot of oil. 1/2 cup is more than enough (works out to 8 tablespoons, giving each "equal" serving about 2 tablespoons. Any more than that and you're eating all your oil calories for the day.
But the recipe says to start with only half the dressing for the four servings - and that's likely going to be plenty. This is a family recipe that differs from mine, but it's all good. I like to mash the garlic with the salt to form a paste, then add the anchovies and mash them into the paste. Then I scrape that into the salad bowl and whisk in the other ingredients, tasting as I go. Finally, lettuce and croutons are placed on top and the whole thing is well tossed and served.
The advice on pasteurizing the egg is helpful but in case you don't have a sous vide heater, here is another way. https://www.google.com/search?q=pasturizing+an+egg&rlz=1CAZJXP_enUS829&oq=pasturizing+an+egg&aqs=chrome..69i57.6701j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_lKmuYMWCGfC6ggeMup_oBg18
Since there are so many variations on Caesar Salad, I think this one is fairly straight forward. The amount of oil seems high, but easily reduced. I usually use a raw egg in the dressing. If that is a problem in your area, act accoardingly. I usually saute the croutons with oil, butter and add the garlic to the saute. Sometimes I chop the anchovies and other times I leave them whole. Some of us like like it that way.
I have always made the Julia Child version of Caesar salad using her classic recipe. It uses slightly less oil than this. I always chop the anchovies up very small and then put them and the rest of the dressing into a Japanese "suribachi", a Japanese pestle and mortar, and grind everything up into a nice semi-emulsified paste. I only use raw egg yolks. I think making your own croutons is especially important. Even anchovy haters love my salad.
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