Caesar Salad a la Roger

Caesar Salad

Roger developed this recipe after many, many visits to Gusti's restaurant in the 60's in Washington, D.C. We would order the salad, watch as it was made tableside and take notes. At that time, a raw egg yolk was used. Now Roger boils the egg until it is just soft boiled, eats the white (gross) and uses only the yolk. The family thinks his is the best!

The amount of most ingredients may be adjusted depending on amount of lettuce used. Also ingredients may be adjusted for personal taste. Obviously the amount of garlic and anchovies used is a matter of taste. Use caution in adding mustard as a little bit goes a long way. The salad dressing should have a moderately thick consistency but if it is too heavy or thick, there is no problem in adding a small amount of water to thin the dressing.

Ingredients:

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed, dried well and torn into bite-sized pieces
Parmesan cheese
Three or four slices of good quality white bread including heel of bread
Garlic
Anchovies
Olive Oil
Red wine vinegar
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Lemon
English mustard (powdered)
1 egg
Pepper

Make Croutons:
Cut slices of white bread into cubes and toast (along with heel of bread) in 350* oven until dry and slightly golden.
Remove from oven and let cool.

Make Dressing:

Crush 4 to 6 cloves of garlic with 3 or 4 anchovy filets in a wooden bowl.
Add dried heel of bread (if needed you can use some croutons as well).
Add approximately 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/8 cup vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon.
Add the yolk of a soft boiled egg.
1/2 level teaspoon of dried English mustard.
1/2 teaspoon pepper - preferably freshly ground.

Crush and mix these ingredients with a wooden spoon until it reaches a medium consistency - sufficient to coat leaves without too much clumping. If the mixture is too thick, beat in a small amount of water.

Let stand for 1/2 hour to permit the flavors to suffuse.

Toss with romaine lettuce, croutons and two tablespoons of good quality parmesan cheese.

Remember when making this dressing you can always add ingredients but not subtract them (particularly the hot mustard as learned from experience) so adjust to your taste as you go along.