Seize the salad

I think it's time I dipped my big toe into the pool of blogging events. There are so many going on each week or month, that to be involved in merely half of them, I would have to give up my day job or even worse, heaven forbid, my social life.

Hay Hay it's Donna Day this month is hosted by Katie of Other Peoples Food and the theme is Caesar's salad. Even though we are staring Winter down the barrel here, a Caesar is always welcome at any time of the year.

My eldest daughter especially loves a Chicken Caesar salad, which she orders everytime we eat out at a restaurant...except she specifies "no bacon, no egg and definitely no anchovies"! The waiter/waitress usually raises their eyebrows at this request, so I put them at ease and say "just a chicken and lettuce salad please" $27 for a plate of lettuce, a few morsels of chicken and a couple of croutons...ouch.

Here is my version, with a few minor alterations to the original, depending on what ingredients I have on hand

CAESAR SALAD

3 eggs
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 anchovy fillets (I use the ones in tins covered in oil...there isn't much more than 3 in the tin)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
185 ml (3/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
3 slices of white bread (I didn't have any so sliced up one of these* that I had in the freezer)
20 g butter
1 tablespoon oil (extra)
3 rashers of bacon (I used prosciutto instead)
Cos lettuce leaves (I only had a butter lettuce on hand, not as crispy as the Cos sadly)
75 g (3/4 cup) shaved Parmesan cheese

Process the eggs, garlic, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and mustard in a food processor until smooth. With motor running, add the oil in a thin, consistent stream until a creamy dressing is produced. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Cut the crusts of the bread (in my case, slice it first), then cut into cubes. Heat the butter and extra oil in frypan over medium heat, add the bread and cook till golden, then remove from the pan. Add the bacon (or prosciutto) to same pan and cook until crispy, then break into bite size pieces.

Toss the lettuce leaves with the dressing, then stir through the bacon and croutons, topped with parmesan cheese.

* Marie from Breadbasketcase made the same loaves last weekend, and was clever enough to take a photo of hers. However her photo links are down at the moment, but should hopefully be back soon. My kids call this snail bread.