Me & Michael Smith- 100 Recipes in 52 Weeks : Recipe 1- Not JUST a Caesar Salad

Recipe 1- Not JUST a Caesar Salad

My journey starts off with a classic and an at home staple, the caesar salad.

In our home caesar salad is one of our favourite sides to many, many meals. My method was to buy a bag of Romaine hearts, grab a jar of Renee's Caesar dressing and a bag of croutons. On a special occasion, the really good parmesan cheese. While all of these ingredients are perfectly okay for a quick throw together salad, Chef Michael Smith has made this a really amazing salad.

Now to start off, when I saw this recipe in the book and its ingredient list, the first thing that jumped out at me was the ANCHOVY! WHAT!?! ANCHOVIES are in this!?!

My good friend Emilie was chatting with me while I decided which recipe to make and she said "If you have had Caesar Salad, then you have eaten an Anchovy"

True. Very True.

However... I have never purchased one, let alone whirled one around in a blender to make a dressing.

And so on my grocery trip to Zehrs, in the cart go the can of Anchovies and I am dreading opening that can later.

To start off the recipe, Chef Michael has you make your own Croutons.

Personally I like croutons in my salad, but its never a must. Until now.

You can use whatever bread you like, I chose a French bread.

His method of infusing some olive oil with garlic and then toasting to perfection has made me change my opinion on these tiny pieces of "toast"

The texture and flavour just adds something to the salad. They are amazing and if you make this recipe, don't pass on this part, even if you are not a crouton lover. They may just change your mind.

Next we move on to the Pancetta Crisp.

Here is another ingredient I have never used before. I opened the package to find some delicately laid out thin pieces of meat. They looked just stunning. Can we even say that meat can look stunning ?! Haha, well it did.

As I was laying these pieces out on my baking sheet, I could tell that I was making something really special. The smell of the pancetta is just really an experience, it has a rich smokey smell and while its cooking, you are waiting in anticipation to taste this little delicacy. To my surprise it tasted like the BEST BACON YOU HAVE EVER EVER HAD.

Before, During & After

Now onto the dressing. I was really looking forward to this part. I have never made any homemade dressing and this step really intrigued me.

My special purchase for this recipe was a new blender. I figured it would be a handy and well needed tool over the next year.

I gathered my ingredients and began dumping them in.

As you can see here, I have not yet included our little "special" ingredient... The Anchovies!
Yes they made it in as my LAST ingredient, and I survived.
I will admit, my face would of said a million things if I had a picture of myself when I finally opened that can.

Don't be discouraged with this step. As I learned later, the anchovy gives and excellent flavour to this dressing. Just open the can quick, dump it in and then take a picture of your face after!

My next step was the lemons. Oh the LEMONS!
I don't know if I just got a good bunch, but man did these ever smell amazing!
I started by zesting away on my new gadget. I was slightly terrified that I may no longer have finger prints or tips while using this, but I was extra careful.
Squeezing the lemon juice was just the best part of this recipe. I have no idea why, but I got so much happiness from squeezing those lemons. The aroma and the colour were just amazing. And using a lemon like a stress ball really works!
However I will inserts a disclaimer here... Remember that paper cut you got yesterday, last week, last month, last year...? You will remember now. This technique of squeezing fresh lemons will promptly remind you of that paper cut! But if you like lemons as much as I do, the smell will distract you from the burning sensation haha!

One little tip I would like to add, this recipe calls for 3 lemons ( zest & juice)
If you are not a lemon lover, cut it back to taste. If you LOVE lemon..
proceed with the recipe!

And with that, we head over to the blender and then ladies and gentleman..
START YOUR ENGINES!
In a few quick pulses, you will have the most amazing caesar dressing you have ever tasted!
The freshness of this dressing is un-describable.

In TRUE Chef Michael Smith form- a mason jar for storage.

Now we finish off with some freshly washed Romaine lettuce and some Basil leaves.

My last new gadget purchase was a salad spinner. I know.. who DOESN"T have a salad spinner.. .well this girl right here doesn't.. Until TODAY!

I had a slight mishap in my glory of spinning that salad dry. The lid popped off and we had a nice dusting of Romaine lettuce on the kitchen floor and counter tops. My husband had a long laugh witnessing this.

You can laugh too, because I know you are envisioning this happening.

The basil really upped the freshness factor in this salad. Don't leave it out!

It is something unique I have never had in a Caesar salad and it was very impressive.

Last but not least all of you efforts come together in one very beautiful salad.

Its so fresh and tasty that I will never make a "store" caesar salad again.

You are left with lots of dressing for more salads and even a dipping sauce for veggies if you would like.

My family and myself eagerly dug into the salad and this was the first thing gone off of our plates. YES, even my kids could not get enough, and it went off to school with them today in their lunches, at their request!

P.S Don't forget that delicately sliced Grana Padano Cheese, it is very very tasty and has a much nicer flavour with this salad then plain parmesan.

Please head over to Chef Michael Smiths website for all of the ingredients and steps to make this salad. You will no be disappointed.

Also, let me know if you do make this recipe and your thoughts!

Until next time, my compliments to the Chef and cheers to you my friends!

Enjoy