CAESAR SALAD

I'VE BEEN MAKING THIS CAESAR SALAD for 40 years. It's the salad they used to make in the old English Room in the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Of course, this was years and years before restaurants started adding the now ubiquitous chicken or shrimp, which I don't like at all and never use. It just isn't the classic salad with poultry or shellfish and somehow detracts rather than enhances the real flavors of the salad. However, I was in Chinatown the other day and bought a barbecued duck, which had been cut into pieces, and thought . . . "why not!" 

CAESAR SALAD WITH DUCK (AND ANCHOVY FILETS!)

All of the ingredients in this Caesar Salad are allowed on the South Beach diet, except the croutons, which as you will see from the photograph above, are omitted.

1 large head Romaine Lettuce
2 cloves minced garlic
A good pinch of salt
2-3 chopped anchovy filets
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
2 tsp. dry mustard
Several dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1 coddled egg
Juice of one lemon
Grated Parmesan cheese
8-10 whole anchovy filets
1/2 roast barbecued duck cut in pieces (bones and skin removed)

In a large wooden salad bowl, press the garlic and the salt together with a wooden spoon to make a paste and oil the entire surface of the salad bowl. Add the chopped anchovy and continue to do the same to incorporate both ingredients.

Once you've gotten a good paste, add the oil and vinegar, the dry mustard and the Worcestershire and mix thoroughly. Place the egg in a deep soup bowl, pour boiling hot water in it and allow to coddle for about a minute. Break the egg and mix the egg with the dressing. Add the lemon juice and stir vigorously. 

This dressing can sit in the bowl until you are ready to add the lettuce and toss before serving. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss. Add the duck (optional) and top with the anchovy filets and serve. A few turns of the pepper mill are always welcome!

Buon Appetito!