The process of shaping raw ingredients into something palatable — and the events that surround this endeavour — can lead to all kinds of unforgettable moments: kitchen disasters, severed digits, epic struggles with newfangled culinary gadgets and, sometimes, personal triumphs. So why not ask some of the city’s top chefs for their most memorable recipes? Why not, indeed? No, really — that’s what we did, and will continue to do weekly.
Celebrity chef Bob Blumer is setting up shop in Toronto next week, promising patrons at The Drake a “unique” pop-up dining experience — replete with beef short ribs served in a toilet bowl. Blumer is perhaps best known for his TV shows, but he’s also written a number of cookbooks over the years. Herewith, Blumer shares one of his breakthrough dishes — Caesar salad — adapted from his Glutton for Pleasure cookbook.
Says Bloomer:
“My history with the Caesar goes way back to my starving student, college years. My unlikely cooking teacher was Scott Wilson, a practical-joking, golf-loving classmate who put himself through business school by preparing Caesar salads table-side at a swish restaurant in London, Ontario. At that point in my life, the only thing I knew about cooking was that it was a good way to impress a date. So one Saturday, in anticipation of a first date, I woke Scott up at two in the afternoon and begged him for a tutorial.
Five hundred salads and several truckloads of romaine lettuce later, I have fine-tuned the ingredients and learned the nuances that make or break a Caesar. These days, I am so obsessed with the ritual that I carry my well-worn salad bowl with me in a snare drum case when I take my show on the road. (Two years ago on my show Glutton for Punishment, I established a Guinness World Record for the most tableside Caesar salads made in an hour — but that’s another story).
Since this recipe was published in my first book 20 years ago, I have received hundreds of letters (now emails) from readers who have mastered the art of making Caesar salad and been deified by their friends. The ultimate compliment came from a waitress at the now-defunct Bamboo Club in Toronto who took me aside and whispered, ‘Every time I make your Caesar salad for a date, I get laid.’ I should have been so lucky.”
Chez Bob’s Caesar
Ingredients
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves
3 anchovies, or 1 heaping teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
5 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
1½ teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 large head romaine lettuce, washed and trimmed. If lettuce looks anorexic, or is in need of a serious trim, buy 2 heads.
½ cup (about 2 ounces) freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano
For the croutons (makes 1½ cups):
3 thick slices of slightly stale sourdough or rustic country-style bread, cut into ¾-inch cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and add olive oil. Toss and squish the bread like a sponge until the oil is evenly absorbed.
3. Place the croutons on a baking sheet or aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 20 watchful minutes, or until golden brown. Turn once or twice. Try not to forget about them in the oven — as I often do.
4. Add salt and pepper to the salad bowl (this creates a sandpaper-like base that will make the next steps easier).
5. Add the garlic. Use the tines of a fork to smash up the garlic, then use the back of a soup spoon to grind the garlic against the wall of the bowl until it is thoroughly pulverized.
6. Add anchovy and once again use the back of the spoon to grind it into a paste.
7. Follow the same procedure, adding the Dijon, egg yolk, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce one at a time. Make sure that each ingredient is fully incorporated into the previous ingredients before proceeding. It should take about 15 seconds of muscle power to blend in each new ingredient.
8. Add the oil and vinegar. Blend well.
9. Tear or slice the lettuce into bite-size pieces and add them to the salad bowl. Toss thoroughly with dressing.
10. Add the croutons and cheese, toss again, and serve immediately.
Notes
1. If you don’t have a rough wooden salad bowl, the dressing can be made (with some sacrifice) in a blender or food processor: Add the salt, pepper, garlic, anchovy, Dijon, lemon juice, and Worcestershire. Purée. Add the oil and vinegar and pulse several times. Then add yolk and pulse a couple of times — just enough to blend it without causing the dressing to turn mayonnaisey.
2. If you are serving your salad to anyone over 100 years old or to anyone with a compromised immune system, coddle your eggs to diminish the risks involved in using raw egg yolks. Begin with a properly refrigerated egg. Submerge the whole egg in a pot of boiling water for exactly 40 seconds, then remove from the water, crack and separate the yolk from the white.
3. I find that the flavor of olive oil overwhelms the dressing so I use safflower oil. Other light vegetable oils or a light olive oil may be substituted.
4. The lettuce leaves should be coated, but not soaked, in dressing. To play it safe, remove and reserve one third of the dressing from the bowl before tossing the salad. Then add back as necessary until your salad is “dressed” appropriately.
Yield: serves 4-6
Level of difficulty: requires the strength of a flyweight arm wrestler and a bit of dedication.
Active prep: 20 minutes
Inactive cooking time: 20 minutes
Shortcuts: buy pre-washed romaine hearts and pre-grated parmiggiano reggiano
Advance work: dressing, croutons, lettuce and cheese can be all be prepped earlier in the day. Dressing and lettuce should be refrigerated individually. Toss salad just before serving.
