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One evening Doug and I were watching an episode of Jamie
Oliver’s cooking show that was dedicated to summer salads. He created
his version of a grilled Caesar and we had to immediately replicate it.
We’ve since tweaked it a little but this is by far our favorite salad.
Yummy… the chicken and croutons come out crispy from the grill
The dressing is mashed together with a mortar and pestle to bring the anchovies to a paste.
Chicken Caesar Salad
Directions
You can make this salad on the grill or in your oven just use the
same technique of layering the bread and chicken inside a bbq veggie
grill dish if you want to pop it onto the grill. Try to use chicken legs
(not dry old breasts) and wings, smoky pancetta and rustic bread to
suck up all the juices. It’s a lovely little salad with just a hint of
attitude – and it’s versatile, as you can serve it hot or cold.
Ingredients
4 whole free-range or organic chicken legs, skin on
1 loaf ciabatta bread (about 9 ounces), torn into thumb-sized pieces
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 thin slices pancetta or bacon
1/4 clove peeled garlic
4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan, plus a few shavings to serve
1 heaped tablespoon creme fraiche
1 lemon, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 or 3 heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the chicken legs in a snug-fitting roasting pan with the pieces
of torn-up bread. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary, drizzle with
olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to make
sure everything is well coated, then lift the chicken legs up to the
top, so they sit above the bread. This way, the bread will soak up all
the lovely juices from the chicken, giving you the best croutons! Pop
the pan into the preheated oven.
After 45 minutes the chicken should be nicely cooked. Take the pan
out of the oven, drape the pancetta or bacon over the chicken and
croutons, and put back for another 15 to 20 minutes for everything to
crisp up. The chicken legs are ready when you can pinch the meat off the
bone easily. When they’re cooked, remove the pan from the oven and set
it aside for the chicken to cool down slightly.
Pound the garlic and anchovy fillets in a pestle and mortar or a
Flavor Shaker until you have a pulp. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in the
Parmesan, creme fraiche, lemon juice and 3 times as much extra-virgin
olive oil as lemon juice. Season dressing, to taste, with salt and
pepper.
Pull the chicken meat off the leg bones – you can use 2 forks to do
this, or your hands if you’re tough like me – and tear it up roughly
with the croutons and the bacon. Wash, spin dry and separate the lettuce
leaves, tear them up and toss with the chicken, croutons, bacon and
creamy, cheesy dressing. Scatter with some Parmesan shavings. |
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