Gulf News 'Your Ramadan Table' food show: Classic Caesar salad
Chef John Buenaventura's green salad of romaine topped with poached eggs
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2 to 3
Ingredients
200 gms chicken breast
500 gms Romaine lettuce
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
100 gms canned anchovies in oil
2 whole eggs
1 baguette
corn oil, as needed
50 gms garlic
150 gms parmesan cheese
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
100 gms veal bacon
10 gms garlic powder
5 gms oregano
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Method
Marinate the chicken with olive oil, black pepper, chopped garlic, garlic powder, and oregano. You can butterfly-cut the chicken and marinate it. Keep it in the chiller for 10 to 15 minutes.
To make bruschetta, slice the baguette and keep it aside. To make parsley-garlic butter, roughly chop garlic and crush sea salt along with it using the back of a knife to make a fine paste. Add room temperature butter in a bowl and mix it with the garlic salt mix. Also, add chopped parsley and combine well. The parsley garlic butter is now ready. Spread it on the sliced baguette and keep it aside.
For the salad dressing, add two egg yolks, corn oil, raw garlic salt mix, fish sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to a bowl. Pasteurise the egg by keeping the bowl under a boiling pot, making sure the egg doesn't cook. Whisk until it thickens. Slowly add oil from the anchovies and some corn oil until it thickens. Add Dijon mustard, a bit more garlic salt mix, a teaspoon of Tabasco, and a teaspoon of lemon juice, and season it with black pepper. Chop the anchovies and mix them in along with parmesan cheese. Rest it for 15 to 20 minutes in the chiller.
Next, put the garlic baguette in the air fryer at 170°C for 10 to 15 minutes and sprinkle some salt. Meanwhile, you can poach an egg and bake the veal bacon in the air fryer for 10 minutes. Once done, keep it aside. Cook the chicken breast in the air fryer at 175°C for 20 minutes. Once done, chop it and keep it aside.
In a salad mixing bowl, add Romaine lettuce, chopped anchovies, grated parmesan, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and the salad dressing. Combine well.
Now, chop the bacon, and keep it aside.
To serve the salad, in a bowl add a spoonful of the Romaine lettuce mix, then top it with chicken and crispy bacon. Grate some parmesan on top of it and add the poached egg. Serve the baguette on the side and enjoy.
Tips
Instead of chicken, you can use prawns for this recipe.
You can keep the parsley garlic butter in the refrigerator for about three months.
It's a classic dish that never goes out of style, with its crisp Romaine lettuce, garlicky croutons, and zesty Caesar dressing. I can't wait to try making it myself, again, and adding some grilled chicken or shrimp for that extra protein kick. I have a feeling this recipe will become a regular in your kitchen!
Join us for the next recipe tomorrow!
Do you have a favourite Ramadan recipe to share? Write to us at food@gulfnews.com.