Blue Cheese Caesar Salad Michael Chiarello Recipes

Steps:

• Put the whole romaine leaves in a work bowl. Add enough of the dressing to coat the leaves and toss well. Arrange the leaves in a serving bowl with their tips up, and intersperse the pizzetta's, if desired. Sprinkle the Parmesan over all.
• Place the egg yolk, mustard, anchovies, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce into a salad bowl. Blend with whisk and then add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until it is fully incorporated. If the dressing stops gets too thick, add the warm water and then continue until all the oil is added. Add the cheese and continue to blend.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Stir the garlic into the tapenade. Separate the ready made/store bought pizza dough into 1 1/2-ounce pieces and roll them out to 1/8-inch (if possible, roll out to desired thickness by using a pasta machine). Cover the top of the rolled out dough with olive paste and garlic mixture. Sprinkle the thyme on top. Lay the pecorino on top of pizzetta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Bake the pizza for 15 minutes or until light brown (a cracker like thinness and texture). Let cool for about 10 minutes, and serve.

Steps:

• For the dressing: Place the egg yolk, mustard, anchovies, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce in a blender. Blend until pureed. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until it is fully incorporated. If the dressing stops moving in the blender, stop the machine, add the warm water and then continue until all the oil is added. To finish, add the cheese and blend on low speed to incorporate. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
• For the croutons: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter until it begins to foam. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the bread slices and mix to coat. Toss bread occasionally so that both sides get toasted. When the bread is golden brown, add the Parmesan and toss to coat. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• For the salad: Put the whole romaine leaves in a work bowl. Add enough of the dressing to coat the leaves and toss well. Add the croutons and toss again to combine. Sprinkle the Parmesan over all and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to high.
• Put the lettuce in a bowl. Pour the dressing over and toss well.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. On a floured board, stretch and roll the dough into thin discs with a rolling pin. The dough may also be stretched by hand, but rolling will give you a thinner crust.
• Coat the rolled out dough with olive oil and place, oiled side down, on a very hot grill. This can be done indoors on a cast-iron stovetop grill pan that has been preheated over medium-medium high. When you start to see bubbles on the surface of the dough, turn it over. It should be slightly browned on the bottom. Brush each round with a generous tablespoon of the garlic paste and sprinkle with the thyme. Remove from the grill with tongs and top with the Caesar salad. Grate parmesan cheese on top, fold in half, and eat.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic. Cut off the top 1/3 of the heads to open the cloves. Save the small pieces of garlic for another use (see Chef's Note). Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cover tightly, place in the oven, and roast until about 3/4 cooked, about 45 minutes. Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool.
• When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl. Press against the skins very well to get out all the sweet roasted garlic you can. Add the oil from the baking dish and mix well until a paste forms. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.
• Chef's Note:
• It is hard to have too much roasted garlic around. You can roast the little bits from the tips of the garlic heads. Put them in a separate small baking container, such as an individual custard cup. Season with salt and pepper, douse with olive oil, cover, and place in the oven to bake along with the whole garlic heads. Depending on their size, they will be soft and browned in about 1/2 the time needed for the whole heads. The little pieces make a good "cook's snack" while preparing dinner, or can be squeezed into tomato sauce or onto pasta.

Steps:

• Put the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, egg yolk, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and pepper in a blender and blend until well mixed.
• With the machine running, add the olive oil, at first by drops and then, as the mixture emulsifies, in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is incorporated.
• Pulse in 3/4 of the Gorgonzola and the Parmesan. Scrape into a bowl. Fold in the remaining Gorgonzola. Cover, and refrigerate until needed. You should have about 1 1/3 cups. (The dressing keeps, refrigerated, for 2 to 3 days.)
• Place the shredded romaine and iceberg in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Lay the romaine leaves on a platter. Place a few tablespoons of the salad onto the leaves and garnish with additional cheese.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the beets in a baking pan, drizzle with the oil, and season with salt. Cover with foil. Bake for about 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a knife.
• In a 1-quart non-reactive saucepan, over medium-high heat, reduce the tangerine juice to about 3/4 cup. Add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat and strain with a fine sieve.
• Return to the saucepan; add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Over medium heat, reduce until the mixture bubbles and has a syrup-like consistency. You should have about 1/4 cup. Remove from the heat and strain again. Let cool to room temperature. Add the olive oil. Set aside. (Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 1/2 weeks.)
• When cool enough to handle, peel the beets, and thinly slice them into rounds. Arrange on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. In a large bowl, toss the spinach with the remaining dressing and place spinach on top of beets in the center of the platter.
• Remove the wedge of blue cheese from the freezer. Using a microplane grater, grate the desired amount over the salad. Garnish with toasted almonds.

Steps:

• Toss the bread with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bread and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden on all sides, about 7 minutes. Set aside and let cool slightly.
• Whisk the dressing, parmesan, anchovies, lemon juice and mustard in a large bowl. Add the romaine and croutons; toss to coat and season with pepper. Top with blue cheese.
• Puree 1/2 cup each crumbled blue cheese and sour cream, 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1 small garlic clove (smashed) and 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar in a blender. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup more blue cheese, 2 to 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce and/or hot sauce, and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper. (Makes about 2 cups.)

Steps:

• Whisk garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, and half the blue cheese in a medium bowl until blended.
• Continue whisking while adding oil in thin stream until thickened.
• Cover and chill for several hours if desired; reblend if necessary.
• Toss crisp letuec in very large salad bowl with dressing until thoroughly coated.
• Add croutons and remaining blue cheese and toss again.
• Serve with Parmesan cheese.