Remember when Caesar salad was incredibly popular? The first one I ever made was way back in the '70's and I bought a special wooden bowl to make it in. I don't think I had much in the way of other kitchen equipment at the time, but I sure had a great salad bowl! (I still have the same one now - geez, it must be an antique!) I do recall having to make a caesar several times before I got it just right, at least to my taste. I wasn't too keen on the anchovies, but what did I know then. I was just a youngster.
On a visit to the library today I picked up a couple of cookbooks for inspiration. It's not that I don't own enough of them myself, but I was passing the shelves and just had to grab a few. Tonight's Caesar Salad recipe came from Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking and it was amazing. I admit I made a few adjustments just so I could pass along the recipe to you without feeling guilty about stealing his work, but if you've a spare inch or two on your cookbook shelf, this book is really worth buying.
This recipe is perfect. Honest. The romaine leaves are left whole, which makes a nice change. I had every intention of including some decent home made croutons, but unfortunately the only thing I had in the freezer were "butter buns". As you can see, they're not the most attractive croutons, but they sure were good. Guess it proves you can make croutons out of almost anything. Download Caesar Salad
Main course was another diet buster - Spaghetti Carbonara. Think I might be on a cholesterol bender, and yes, I'm aware that one or the other of these courses would have been sufficient for dinner. I don't make carbonara very often, so this was a great treat and well worth the indulgence. Haven't I said that before about something we shouldn't be having? Download Spaghetti Carbonara
Of course a glass of good red wine helped to balance out the bad in the rest of the menu. Don't you know red wine can supposedly raise the good cholesterol (HDL) and prevent the bad stuff (LDL) from forming. Obviously there must be some truth to that ...my cholesterol is perfect while the big guy is on medication. Mmmm...wonder if that's an indication of who drinks the most red wine around here. Shhh..please, say nothing!
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