Caesar salad with chicken, tomatoes and croutons

Classic Caesar

It is unlikely that the author of the classic Caesar salad, an American chef of Italian origin Caesar Cardini, could have imagined that his work would be so famous all over the world. Legend has it that the chef ran out of almost all the products just when a large and noisy company of Hollywood filmmakers raided into his restaurant. The enterprising Italian collected all that remained, and ... went down in the history of world culinary. He didn't have much left: lettuce, garlic croutons, olive oil, eggs, parmesan and Worcestershire sauce. They are the main components of a real Caesar, and not a chicken, as many think. But if Cardini had chicken breasts, I'm sure he would have sent them to this salad.

Nowadays, there are a lot of options for Caesar salad and sauces for it. By the way, Caesar Cardini would hardly be offended. After all, the first who began to modify this salad was his brother.

One of my favorite Caesar varieties is chicken.

Ingredients for Caesar salad with chicken and croutons:

For 2 normal servings

1/2 loaf (200g), preferably a baguette
300 g chicken fillet (fillet of one breast),
1 large bunch of lettuce
50 g parmesan
1 clove of garlic
1 tomato (optional)
100 ml olive oil
salt,
pepper mix

For Caesar sauce:

Classic American sauce:
5 black peppercorns,
1/2 clove of garlic
a pinch of salt,
1 tablespoon of Worcester sauce
3 egg yolks,
75 ml olive oil
1/4 lemon juice,
some Dijon mustard

Instead of chicken fillet for making Caesar salad, you can take smoked salmon, salmon or shrimp, which will also be very tasty.

The recipe for Caesar salad with chicken and croutons:

Rub the chicken breasts with salt and a mixture of different peppers. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours to marinate.

Heat 100 ml of olive oil in a frying pan. Throw in a crushed or chopped clove (or two) of garlic and fry until barely golden brown. Take out the garlic and throw it away. If you overexpose garlic in oil, an unpleasant odor will appear.

Cut the dried loaf or wheat baguette into small cubes. If you are not lazy, then you can pre-cut the crust.

Fry the pieces of loaf in butter with garlic until golden brown. Garlic croutons and special dressing are what makes this appetizer exactly Caesar salad.

Fry the chicken fillet in a hot skillet until tender, about 3-5 minutes on each side. You can fry both breast halves and cut the chicken into thin strips. Do not cover the chicken with a lid, otherwise it will give juice and the breasts will not be as tender as we need.

Caesar salad sauce:

Of all, I liked the classic one. The classic Caesar sauce contains Worcestershire sauce, but can be substituted with anchovy with sugar and lemon. Grind the fillet of one anchovy, a creeper of garlic, a few peas of black pepper, half a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt in a mortar.

Add three egg yolks there and mix. Dripping olive oil. Beat the sauce. We continue to add oil drop by drop and beat it with a fork into the emulsion. Gently drip oil, excess movement - and the sauce will exfoliate. Three yolks will need about 75 ml of oil. Add the juice of half a lemon and Dijon mustard to taste. Let's mix.

It seems to be mayonnaise, but not mayonnaise either. It tastes more like aioli, only with anchovy and less garlic.
If you use Worcester sauce, you need 1 tablespoon, do not put sugar, and reduce the amount of lemon juice to 1/4 of a lemon, Worcester sauce is, in general, fish with sugar and acid (vinegar).

Putting Caesar together:

Rub the salad dish with garlic. Tear lettuce leaves with our hands not finely, put them on a dish. Sprinkle with sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan.

Put the chicken fillet cut into cubes or cubes on the salad, sprinkle with the sauce again.

We spread the croutons. Sprinkle with sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and you can immediately serve the salad to the table.

It will be even tastier if you add a little fresh tomato pulp, cut into cubes, to the salad. But if it is not the season for fresh tomatoes, it is better to refrain from using them in a salad.

Which Caesar do you like best?