Ceasar Salad: The Keller way

Ceasar Salad, Keller style.


The French Laundry and I don't have much of a history together. I have never been to the restaurant and I bought the cookbook mainly because the cover looked pretty.
But my secret shame is that I have only made 2 of its recipes in all the time that it has graced my bookshelf. And those 2 both involved cheese and were about the easiest recipes that could be found within its pages.

But last week a friend of mine was coming over for dinner and suddenly I was feeling ambitious.

And so we come to "How to Impress 101":
Make a recipe in which layers are stacked.
It seems very difficult and somewhat frou-frou.
And you get extra points if it comes from the French Laundry.

I told my dinner guest of my plans. I didn't admit it at the time, but I was biting my knuckles a bit. This was Keller after all.

And yet, I reasoned it as much as I could.
"Most of the steps can be done in advance."
"I won't have much to do when my guest arrives."
"It's probably not as hard as it seems."

But little did I realize that it would take several hours of my time in advance, which I had left to that same day.

By the time my guest was due to arrive, all I wanted to do was crawl in bed, take a nap and order in a bucket of KFC. Except of course, this is France, and I would by shunned by my neighbours if I drowned out the smell of their madeleines with the smell of KFC.

Keller, you tuckered me out. But you sure make some great salad.


The Salad
I won't give you the exact recipe because it would take 3 pages just to write it out for you. You'll just have to buy the book or find a friend who will let you borrow it from them. But you can use the idea.

The Dressing
Keller's dressing is fantastic. The recipe makes way more than you will ever be able to eat in the 3 days that it will last in the fridge. Unless you have a really big Ceasar Salad party to use up the leftover dressing. The key to the flavour of this dressing is the addition of balsamic vinegar.

The Parmesan Custards
The parmesan custards are actually not that hard to make once you figure out that the recommended 250F to bake the custards is probably a typo and that's why after an hour the damn things still haven't set yet. I recommend 350F--then 30 minutes is exactly right. The custards are just a combination of milk, cream and parmesan.

The Parmesan Crisps
Make some parmesan crisps the same size as your ramekins by spreading some grated parmesan in a circle on a silpat sheet or parchment paper and baking at 350F for about 8 minutes until they turn a little golden. They will crisp once cooled. These can be done in advance and kept in an airtight container for a few days.

Putting it all together
First put some of the dressing on the plate.
Then a panfried crouton (a slice of baguette and some olive oil) goes on top of that.
Then the custard.
Then the parmesan crisp.
Then the salad which is lightly coated with some of the dressing.
And then a few shavings of parmesan to top it off.



The French Laundry Cookbook