Let’s get right down to it. When Beau and I got married I told him reluctantly that I would make dinner most nights of the week due to his request and something about the budget…
Turns out I like this cooking thing. A lot. It’s become an addiction, and I often find myself talking about Food TV Network stars like they are old friends. I am awesome like that.
As Beau and I have journeyed through our first (and now into our second) year of marriage we discovered that we both love cooking. We are often in the kitchen together. Sometimes I am his sous chef and sometimes he is mine.
A few months ago we came up with a “Test Kitchen Tuesday” idea. We wanted to explore different foods and cooking techniques and give ourselves the freedom to royally screw up and laugh about it. And never reveal our errors to the human race. Ever.
It’s our baby idea. Like not even a newborn baby idea. More like an, “I think I am pregnant” idea. And no, I am not pregnant. But, interesting that I just used that example…baby fever much? I dunno. Ah. Ok, the idea of being pregnant still scares me. REIN IT IN BELLE.
Ok…so, like I was saying. We usually have friends over for Test Kitchen Tuesday and they get to help us decide what we should cook. It’s fun! All you need for your own personal Test Kitchen Tuesday is:
- an idea of what to cook and a recipe
Bottles of wineBeverages of choice 🙂- Friends
The idea to post about these nights was an afterthought.
That leads me into the world’s best caesar dressing. (And sorry for all the explanation before that. You thought you would just be visiting for a recipe, right? Sorry. Kind of.)
Ok, I have searched high and low for the best homemade caesar dressing. HIGH AND LOW. I have made dressings that range from painfully oily to disgustingly fishy (yikes) to downright illegal.
So last Tuesday Beau and I lined up three recipes and vowed not to leave the kitchen until we found the best caesar dressing ever.
We started with a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. Ok, we can just shut it down here, right? BUT, I was extremely skeptical because I had tried a spicy caesar dressing by her in the summer and the look on my guests face after serving it told me I was still on my hunt.
We carefully followed each step and after one lick of the spoon…we did shut it down. Packed test kitchen Tuesday up for the night. We found it. The best caesar dressing.
Now, I’m not going to layout the recipe, Ree (see how I called her by her first name, we’re friends like that) does a much better job of that. We made it EXACTLY like she wrote it and it wowed us.
DO EXACTLY WHAT SHE SAYS. DO NOT, I SAY, DO NOT SKIMP ON THE ANCHOVIES…you heard me.
Oh and a tip on anchovies, we bought ours at Fresh Market (kind of like a Whole Foods) in a bottle (not a can) packed in oil (not in water). That makes a difference.
Also, DO NOT smell the anchovies as you are putting them into the blender unless you want a serious gag reflex. Also don’t name them as you drop them in. Or do 🙂 Little Henry served us well 🙂
Here it is: The Best Caesar Dressing. (It’s also below in print format.)
You must try it and let me know what you think!
Note: Why not just buy caesar dressing in the store? First of all, most of the store dressings have enough preservatives in them to make a girl mad. Really mad. Secondly, I actually never found a bottled dressing I really like. Those really fancy ones can be ok, but their price tag makes me just as mad. BAD BOTTLED DRESSINGS. BAD.
Thus concludes this post. Next time there will be more pictures. For example we have found (and this has been approved by dinner parties and our Bible study) the best pot roast EVER but we had to revise it several times over, so I will include the original recipe along with what we added and what we had to take away.
“In order to be a good cook, you have to love to eat.”
-Ana Jovancicevic
Celebrated dinner party hostess
Brooklyn, New York
The Best Caesar Dressing. Ever.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Salad Dressing:
- 4 whole anchovy fillets
- 2 tablespoons (and up to 3 tablespoons) Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar (balsamic makes it nice and rich)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
- 1/2 whole lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 dash salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
- Hearts of romaine lettuce
- Fresh Parmesan wedge
Instructions
- For the dressing: Place the anchovies into a blender or food processor. Throw in the Dijon mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic and lemon juice. Pulse the processor or blend on low speed for several seconds. Scrape down the sides.
- With the food processor or blender on, drizzle the olive oil into the mixture in a small stream. Scrape down the sides. Add the Parmesan, salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Pulse the whole thing together and mix until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate the dressing for a few hours (it just gets better!) before using it on the salad.
- For the salad: Wash and dry the hearts of romaine lettuce. Leave them whole. Use a vegetable peeler and shave off large, thin slices of Parmesan.
- Drizzle about half of the dressing over the top of the hearts. Throw in a good handful of the Parmesan shavings. Give it a good initial toss, just so you can evaluate how much more dressing you need.
Notes
Recipe Credit: The Pioneer Woman
You don’t add egg yolks?
I added a one hard boiled egg yolk to your recipe…..perfect!