mini ceaser salad

Steady on ladies, it's a throwback to a birthday dinner party in Berkely 2017 and Henry serving canapes for a 50th birthday in Berkeley.  

Like a musician remembered for one song, we'll probably only remember Ceaser Cardini for the salad which maybe he didn't even invent - but then everyone always wants to take the glory don't they.

It always amazes me when you look in the salad dressings aisle of supermarkets just how expensive dressings are for what they are - there's a money making business if ever there is one. Me? I just keep a few staple ingredients in the fridge and store cupboard and you can make anything - quite how the Ceaser salad came into being in the first place.

Ceaser salad is great comfort food. The day after I catered for my grandpas wake I left my brother with all the ingredients to make Cesaser salad for everyone while I went back to work. It's both comfort food and easy to eat and therein lies it's popularity. The umami from the parmesan helps too.

Did you know?
Ceaser dressing works very well as a dip for chips or potato wedges? Try it!

Anchovies/ no anchovies?
Like marmite people either love them or hate them, and as a chef you end up just always serving the anchovies on the side so guests can choose whether they want them or not. I am a great anchovy fan and prefer using the fresh marinated anchovies rather than the tinned variety. You can add anchovy paste to the dressing as well. 

Wishy washy Ceaser salad
Another thing people get wrong so often with Ceaser salad is not drying the lettuce enough after washing. Excess water clinging to the leaves just dilutes the dressing and you see a puddle of thin dressing swimming around in the bottom of your salad bowl rather than clinging to the leaves - what's the point in life? Spin the salad leaves in a salad spinner, then dry on a clean tea towel as well for good measure. 

Cheat's Ceaser Dressing

Why cheats? Because you're not making it from scratch with egg yolk and oil. But that's all mayonnaise is really. Using sherry vinegar rather than wine gives it a really nice extra flavour. Don't get carried away with the garlic as the flavour develops after the dressing is made.

Ingredients

200ml Mayonnaise

2tsp Sherry vinegar

1tsp Lemon juice

1tsp Worcestershire sauce

50g Grated parmesan

1/2 tsp Wholegrain mustard

1 Clove fresh garlic, pureed

Few glugs of olive oil

Freshly milled black pepper

Water, depending on consistency

Modus

This has the simplest method - you just combine everything in a mixing bowl and whisk together. If your mayonnaise is quite salty already you probably don't need extra salt (think of your arteries). Depending on how thick your dressing is you might need to add a little water to loosen it so it is coating consistency for the lettuce leaves. 

How long will Ceaser dressing keep in the fridge?
If you are making your own mayonnaise base from raw egg it will only last 3 days in the fridge. But if you use a brought mayonnaise made from pasteurised egg it will last up to a month in the fridge - an instant snack for you.

Crispy tortilla baskets
You can also make these starter size or bowl size for a lunch or even bigger to share at the table - endless possibilities.

To make the canape size ones you need a mini muffin tin. Cut out tortilla circles with a cutter larger so the circles will fill the base and all the way up the sides.

Place the cut out tortilla circles into a tray/ bowl of cold water and let them soak for 10 seconds. Then take them out and mould them into the mini muffin tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 oC for 7 - 10 minutes till crisp. You want them just golden.

Ceaser Salad

Ingredients
Baby gem lettuce, washed, spun and very dry
Ceaser dressing (see recipe above)
Parmesan shavings
Fresh marinated anchovies (optional)
Parma ham

Modus

• First make the parma ham crisps. Lay pieces of parma ham on a baking sheet with baking mat or greaseproof paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 oC for 5 - 6 minutes till crispy. Put a timer on - they are easy to burn (done so many times). Also make more than you need because they are so edible straight out of the oven. 
• Cut baby gem into small cubes - small enough to fit into the mini tortilla baskets. Mix with the dressing. 
• The crispy tortilla baskets don't stay crisp forever once they're filled, so leave it as late as you can till you make them up before serving. 
• Spoon the lettuce mix into the tortilla baskets. Garnish with parmesan flake, broken parma ham crisp and slice of anchovy. You could also add a small slice of grilled chicken. 

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Chef in Venice #10 - Grilled asparagus with smoked cheese wrapped in parma ham & sun dried tomatoes

This has to be the best view from the door of a supermarket surely?

With all the news from the 2013 Venice biennale it's giving me a craving to get back there. So much so that I am trawling photos at 4 in the morning  - I have 3 years worth and counting at the moment of unblogged food photos - there's only so many hours in the day......

Deliveries at the Billa store on the Zattere can still arrive by lorry - as long as the lorry arrives by barge. So wonderfully inefficient. 

The secret to Venice - get out there before the grockles arrive.

This happens a lot. Even when you think you know.

Morning shopping route takes you past the lady with  the parasol, or is it an umbrella, or  a 1960's hair dryer? Quirky is good.

Picked up this smoked cheese......

....wrapped it in parma ham...

.....and sage from the roof garden...

.....and served after a 'hard day' traversing the biennale with asparagus and sun  dried tomato. Where did the wooden salad server come from? I blame the prosecco......

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Canapes, asparagus wrapped in parma ham, beef en croute and meringues - 40th birthday catering near Stratford on Avon

Duck satay - the fastest (to be eaten) canapé in the west

Vegetarian alternative version - halloumi satay - so good!

Chorizo and butternut squash filo tart (above before cooking, below finished article)

Home cured trout for another canape - spoon of trout gravadlax and cauliflower carpaccio - another winner!

The starter they had requested - asparagus wrapped in parma ham with hollandaise. We half roasted the asparagus, wrapped it in parma ham and flashed it back in the oven for 5 (well more like 8 by the time everyone had got settled) minutes to finish cooking & crisp the ham. Not shy with the hollandaise - I hate it when you don't get enough.

Fillet of beef en croute - seen here before the pastry lids went on.  Chicken liver pate, leeks and creamed wild mushrooms on top. There was also a vegetarian version, a vegetarian version made at the last minute with no mushrooms (allergy... luckily I took spare pastry to the venue), a gluten free version made with gluten free pastry and 2 no sauce. Phew - plating up was fun. Make sure you have different pastry shapes on top of each so you know what's what.

They had requested this classic dessert - strawberries, meringues and cream all served separately. 

Meringues earlier in the day. "But how is it your's aren't brown?" asked one of the guests as we were plating up.  The secret - turn the oven down as low as it can go and leave the doors open tied with string so they dry out rather than cook. You can also put in the oven, switch off and leave overnight, but there's only so many hours in the day.......

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Parma ham, rocket, sun dried tomato and parmesan pinwheel, rhubarb and custard cake and other lunch buffet items

Parma ham, rocket, sun dried tomato puree & parmesan pinwheel

Starts off looking like this. My favourite part of this particular buffet!

Tuna nicoise open sandwich (among others)

Rhubarb - straight from my garden to make this rhubarb and custard cake.
There are also coconut cake bars there and some left over roast rhubarb in the middle.

Rum and raisin cupcakes - see recipe here

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Chef in Venice #7 - Poached eggs with parma ham on toasted ciabatta

"We should write a 'survival guide to Venice on a budget'" said my friend last week.

Chiesa St. Barnaba..... at 8am (early start that day)

Chapter one would certainly be titled 'Cook for yourself'. Self catering should mean just that - it's hard to get out from a restaurant under €100 for 2 - and believe me, everyone you meet will like to tell you so, and that's before they start on the price of drinks. But go to the local Billa supermarket and markets in campo St. Margherita (not the Rialto - that's where tourists go) and that €100 goes a long way!

This was breakfast one day - poached eggs with parma ham on toasted ciabatta. When you're traversing the Ventian streets in search of Biennale exhibits you need a decent start

The eggs were supposed to be for making pasta - hence the vivid orange yolks. Didn't stretch to making pasta - it was a holiday after all - but they were rather good like this!

Don't forget the coffee though - it starts every Italian's day. It also has to get a mention in surviving Venice on a budget - make a macchiato at your place and it's going to be around 10 cents vs €2 - €3 (most often around the €3 mark) when you are out and about. Might be wonderful coffee (actually nobody makes it like the Italians, but still, when you're just a poor chef.......

Related Posts

Previous Venice postings

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Wedding catering near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire (ii)

So just 5 days after clearing up after the last wedding at Upper Court near Tewkesbury, I was back setting up the next. This time cooking without an oven. We're flexible - I have done so many events there now I know the cottages better than my own house, so rather than hiring an oven for the marquee we used the oven in the coach house for cooking the chicken the main course and then ran it down the garden to the marquee. Grilled vegetables heated perfectly in the hot cupboard and potatoes re-heated in the chafing dish. Anything to help the wedding couples' budget.

The bride and groom wanted an Italian themed menu for their big day and were very happy with the end result - I caught up with them as they came back to the Coach House much later in the evening to carry on the party.

Salad of parma ham, poached pears and gorgonzola














Pears poached with star anise, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest wrapped in parma ham.












Free range Madgetts Farm chicken filled with roast peppers, caramelised red onion, mozzarella and basil wrapped in pancetta with grilled vegetables, new potatoes and wild nettle pesto

Not these chickens though - these were the resident chickens at Upper Court who seemed very interested in what we were cooking (who can blame them?). If you stay there for B & B you can sample their eggs for breakfast. Never very good at getting pics of the main course - it's always such a rush to get the food out while it is hot - especially when you're running some of it down the garden....

But the chicken looked very like this, and the grilled vegetables like this. The nettles for the pesto I picked shortly after dawn behind Tewkesbury Abbey - good to keep it all local. Nettles give the pesto a great earthy flavour.

Tiramisu
Sponge, espresso, amaretto, marscapone, Cotteswold cream, amaretti biscuits, vanilla - an old classic. I once had one in a restaurant in Stratford on Avon and have been trying to recreate it ever since. This was the best so far. Each glass came back empty - always a good sign.

Related posts:

Salad of parma ham, poached pear and glazed goats cheese
Grilled chicken and grilled vegetables

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Barbecue catering for a hen party in Bisley (between Stroud and Cheltenham)

Make the most of the last of your freedom!
Well I've cooked in some amazing houses over the years but this definitely ranks as the most high. Bisley is one of those secret Cotswold villages - off the tourist track (and all the better for it) - maybe that's why Jilly Cooper lives there. I had been in the neighbouring villages but not this one - now I saw it have to go back.

When they said you go up a steep slope they weren't kidding. It's steep, and then goes up a bit more, a bit more and a bit more - like a mountain with a load of false summits. But look what awaits you when you get there - an 18th century wisteria clad beauty. The garden was bursting with life, and being so high you get a great view of the valley. Truly a stunning house.

While you can order the barbecue menu, sadly you can't order the weather - though I am working on it. This was the polar opposite of the week before. That had been the hottest day of the year - at 33 oC + hotter than Greece and the med and the wedding party had soaked it up. This week however, it rained all afternoon and the evening went cold. So it was a bit of indoor barbecuing instead, which is no bad thing. At the end of last year I purchased a large Le Creuset grill pan and fell instantly in love with it. It sure did the job on this occasion too.

Skewers of chorizo, bacon, halloumi & red onions
The hens had left choosing the menu to me so I did a couple of favourites and a couple of new things. A few days before I had been admiring Jan's chicken, bacon and halloumi skewers, and thought (& tweeted) how good halloumi and chorizo would be. @Cotswoldfood tweeted back '@MyCotswoldfood Did halloumi, pancetta and red onion the other night, excellent!' well that settled that then. And oh yes - this was such a meat fest! Sure I could eat chorizo for breakfast, lunch and dinner......

Barbecued beef stroganof
I cut up the finest Home Farm rib eye beef and marinaded it overnight in barbecue sauce. Then skewered with button mushrooms. Meanwhile my white wine and mushroom cream sauce was reducing away.
As the hens were eating inside there was limited serving space so we decided it would be easier to plate up the main items and for them to pass the salads around. So the stroganof sauce went over the skewers once plated. Classics are great aren't they?
I had first done this 4 years previously when I was cooking a series of barbecues for the same hosts and had to come up with varied options. It was about time to do it again. It's like a cross between barbecue and fondue - what could be better? [Those are grilled chilli-tiger prawns in the background by the way.]
Campari poached chicken wrapped in parma ham

This makes a great hen party dish - campari, well they like their cocktails. Because it is poached it is much moister. Wrapped in parma and barbecued (or grilled in this case), it just finishes it off.






Salads at the ready to be passed (spinach, cherry tomatoes, red onion & olive, potato salad and spiced pepper quinoa)
Desserts

Grilled pears with greek yogurt and honey
One for Ms Marmitelover - a dessert in a large bowl to help yourself. This was almost too good to serve. I had poached the pears with cinnamon, cardamon and cloves first.









Strawberry skewers with white chocolate dip
Well you can't have a barbecue without them can you? Especially a hen party barbecue.

So while we cleared up they got ready for their night out on the town (Cheltenham) - no point in doing things by halves.


Related posts

Other barbecues we have served

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Wedding catering in the Lifford Hall, Broadway, Worcestershire

Cooking for 76 is just like for a large dinner party really. Just takes a bit more planning.It's said that everyone who lives in Broadway has worked at The Lygon Arms at some point in their life. Geoff was head gardener there for many years, and I would often meet him as I picked things from the garden for the kitchen when I worked there. Yesterday was their daughter's wedding which I was cooking for with my team (thanks team!), following a great birthday meal a few years before, and where else would you hold an event in Broadway but the Lifford Hall - it's the hub of village events many and varied.

Salad of asparagus with Blacksticks Blue cheese and parma ham crisp
I picked up the asparagus from Teddington, just 4 miles away a few days before. As I arrived the farmer was just bringing it in from the field on the quad bike - couldn't be fresher. I sorted through it all selecting the ones I wanted while he was busy doing other things. Nothing like a bit of quality control.
I found Bangrove by accident really - drove past the sign saying 'asparagus here' years ago, turned around and went back. Now I don't like getting it from anywhere else - there is just no comparison. Also buying it from a vegetable supplier you never quite know what you are going to get. When you can actually select your own like I did the other day it makes the whole cooking proccess much more enjoyable.






Rack of Home Farm lamb with dauphinoise potato, grilled courgette and a tomato and basil jus

"...and I was saying to Geoff last night - you must have had quite a long day" said Val, the bride's mother this morning when I was clearing up "you were there from 3 o'clock and you didn't leave till...."
"Just after 1" I finished. But of course, behind what you see on the day there is a whole 7 day industry. For it to run so smoothly on the day requires preparation - there are no second chances. I had booked the racks of lamb back with Home Farm back in November when we had agreed basic details of the wedding and been checking up every so often how it was going. Because of the price of export lamb now it makes much more sense for them to sell their lambs live at market and the meat ends up being exported. They make exactly the same amount if they send it to slaughter, then butcher it themselves and sell it in the farm shop or farmers market. Add in the transport cost from the farm to salughter and back, and there is no wonder why they are cutting back on the lamb they sell in the shop. But because it was me they were happy to do it - another reason why shopping locally is good.

Because they leave the chine bone on while I was out cooking for the Saturday night party Hannah removed these and roasted them, so I could make stock on Sunday morning which formed the basis of the sauce.

Tomatoes that were blanched, peeled and diced and added the lamb sauce and also used for tomato soup for the children came from wonderful tomato growers in Buckland - the next village to Broadway. They smelled and tasted just how tomatoes should - not what you can say for mass production supermarket tomatoes sadly - it all makes a difference in the end result.

Spinach which went under the lamb was from a local farm too - Zentith Nurseries near Evesham.










Trio of chocolate desserts

Dark chocolate tart
White choclate and blueberry cheesecake
Shotglass of chocolate and espresso tirimisu

It's just amazing how everything comes together so quickly. The hours of 3 - 8 just dissappeared. After weeks of planning in no time at all the main course had been sent and we ploughed straight into finishing this dessert.

I will add the cheesecake recipe at some point - it is one of the most requested. The caramelisation on the top like a creme brulee is the finishing touch.

Link to chocolate tart recipe is here. They just need heating in the oven till soft. And while I was organising other things the @Party-Angels who had been looking after front of house so well put the raspberries on top for me.







Related posts

Trio of raspberry desserts for a wedding between Evesham and Pershore
Other weddings we have cooked for


Other photos

• Their Homemade walnut, raisin and rosemary bread rolls made in the (not so) early hours of Thursday.

• Tart case (for chocolate tart) production line

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