Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe

Caesar Salad Secrets

The Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe is variation of the famous Caesar Salad. This chicken salad recipe is quite a legend and the exact original recipe can create a serious debate. Caesar Salad History and origin vary and as with any good legend there are a few versions of where this flavoursome salad was first served.
The history is quite fascinating and the dish is accredited to Chef Caesar Cardini.

Some extra ingredients have crept into the recipe over the years and are now more or less accepted as part of the original. One of these is anchovies. The original Caesar salad recipe did not contain anchovies but instead got it's anchovy flavour from the Worcestershire sauce. Capers are another varient to the original recipe. It's also popular to now use mayonaise instead of the coddled egg whisked into the oil.

In 1953 the Society of Epicures in Paris reportedly called the Caesar Salad "the greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in 50 years."

I am particularly fond of the flavours in the Caesar salad dressing and the fabulous texture with the lettuce and croutons. It is one of those "worth-the-effort" chicken salad recipesand if you like Caesars Salad then it's a winner.

Croutons can be easily homemade but you can buy the ready-made ones. You can also buy the ready-made Caesar salad dressing in the store but it's just not the same as homemade.

Apparently, when Caesar Salad is served properly in a restaurant, the waiter or chef should come and do all his whisking and mixing right at your table. I've never experienced this but I should imagine it would be great fun to watch, or perhaps a little embarassing if you're dining with teenagers.

Chicken Caesar Salad Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper
• 10 ml (2 tsp) lemon juice
• 15ml lemon juice
• 1 romaine lettuce

Chicken Caeser Salad Dressing Ingredients

• 2 anchovy fillets (optional)
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) olive oil
• 45ml (2 ½ tbsp) lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
• 3ml (½ tsp) salt
• 1ml ((2 ¼ tsp) pepper
• 1 coddled egg
• pinch of mustard powder
• 5ml (1 tsp) worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ oz / 1 cup / 45 grams garlic croutons
• ¼ cup / 30 grams grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• shaved Parmesan cheese to garnish

How To Make The Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe

You are going to marinade the chicken fillets so mix together the garlic, salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice. Cover the chicken breasts with the marinade and refridgerate for 30 minutes. To cook the chicken breasts, heat up a pan and sear or brown each side for anbout a minute. Then cook them on each side for a further 3 minutes or until done. Remove from the heat and set aside for a few minutes. Slice the chicken breastsinto thin strips.

To Make Croutons : Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Trim the crust from day-old white bread (Italian or french bread) and cut into cubes (about 3/4-inch big.)

Toss with enough olive oil to coat. Season lightly with salt and spread out on a baking tray.

Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until just golden brown. To make sure the croutons toast evenly, give the pan a shake halfway through the baking time. Set the croutons aside to cool.

Separate the lettuce leaves and discard the outer leaves. Rinse the leaves well and shake dry then at with paper towel. Leave the Pale inner leaves whole and tear greener leaves into bite-size pieces and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To Coddle The Egg : Coddling causes the yolk to become slightly thickened and warm. Bring a fresh egg to room temperature. You can do this by placing it in warm water (this helps prevent cracking when coddled). Bring water to the boil in a small saucepan then turn off the heat and place the egg in the boiled water. Let the egg stand for exactly 1 minute. Immediately run cold water into the bowl until the egg can be easily handled; set aside.

Chicken Caesar Salad Dressing : Mash your anchovy in a salad bowl with the back of a fork and then mix in the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt & pepper. Whisk in the coddled egg until the mixture is thick and smooth, approximately 1 minute (this enables the lemon juice to "cook" the eggs).

Now it gets a bit more difficult. Slowly add the olive oil to the mix in a steady stream while constantly whisking again until smooth. Be careful to not add the oil too quickly or the dressing will be separate and not emulsify.

To assemble the Chicken Caesar Salad : Place your torn Romaine lettuce leaves in the salad bowl. Add half the dressing, toss the leaves to coat with dressing, add the remaining dressing. Sprinkle over this the Parmesan cheese. Toss in the chicken strips and croutons and toss again.

Rearrange the whole lettuce leaves to stand upright around the sides of the salad bowl and garnish with the shaved Parmesan cheese.

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