Graham Elliot is a busy man. A TV personality, you may have seen him on one of the cooking shows he so amiably guides. Or, if you live in Chicago, you may have eaten at one of his restaurants. And now he’s an author with the book Cooking Like a Master Chef. My Huffington Post review is here.
The premise of his book is that you can create real, chef-style meals in your home kitchen. These are, in fact, the recipes he cooks at home with his family. Ah, but the good news is that he has brought home some of the recipes from his two-star restaurant. This Caesar salad is a signature dish for him, perhaps THE signature dish.
I know. You look at this picture and you are comparing it with other Caesar’s in your life and you are saying, “This looks different.” Actually, it really looks like it belongs in the Museum of Modern Art.
The focus in this salad is the oversized croutons, which Graham actually calls twinkies. It’s brioche bread stuffed with mascarpone, cream, and Parmesan cheese. If ancient Rome was decadent, then so are these croutons.
Suzi and I are debating this dish. I want to do it. She’s has looked at the twinkies and rolled her eyes. This is probably one of those “while the wife is away” dishes that I am going to try, boast about, and literally drag her into a new world of cheese-stuffed brioche. I know I will love it and I know she will too. She’s just a bread purist. That’s all.
If you compare the recipe below with the picture above, you will see that the food stylist took liberties. So should you. You’ll have all the components here. I think the layout in the photo is the more interesting way to proceed.
Graham’s Signature Caesar Salad
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
For the Anchoiade Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped shallot
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about ¾ cup)
- 1 cup grapeseed oil
- 1 teaspoon anchovy oil (from the can of anchovies) or extra-virgin olive oil
For the Twinkie Filling:
- 3 ounces mascarpone cheese (about ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons)
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about ½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons half-and-half
- ½ tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- Salt
For the Brioche Twinkies:
- ½ unsliced brioche loaf or loaf of white bread
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
For the Parmesan Fluff
- 4 ounces Parmesan cheese
For the Garnish:
- 12 Spanish white anchovy fillets
Preparation:
Trim the heads of romaine so the tops are somewhat even and discard the tough base. Cut the heads into quarters, to make 8 pieces total. Soak the lettuce quarters in cold water for a few minutes. Pat dry and set aside.
For the dressing, put the sour cream, lemon juice, shallot, mustard, egg yolk, garlic, and parsley in a blender and puree on high speed until smooth.
Add the Parmesan and puree for about 1 minute longer. With the blender running on medium speed, slowly add the grapeseed oil and anchovy oil in thin, steady streams. Pause every 10 seconds to make sure the oil is fully incorporated. If the dressing is too thick, add a touch of water.
For the Twinkie filling, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix the mascarpone, cream cheese, Parmesan, half-and-half, shallot, and garlic. Process until fully incorporated. Season with salt and pulse to mix.
Using a rubber spatula, transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and set aside.
For the brioche Twinkies, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Using a serrated knife, remove all the crust from the brioche loaf. Slice 8 rectangles from the loaf, each about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. (It’s a good idea to cut a few extras, in case you need them.)
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Brush the melted butter over all sides of the bread rectangles.
Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat and gently brown the Twinkies on all sides.
Drain on paper towels to absorb any excess butter.
Use the rounded handle of a wooden spoon to hollow out two holes in the bottom of the Twinkies, each about ½ inch deep.
For the Parmesan fluff, using a Microplane, carefully grate the Parmesan over a bowl. The Microplane will produce very light, fluffy gratings. While you can grate the cheese ahead, grating it just before use will ensure it’s light and fluffy.
To assemble the salad, use a clean paintbrush or similar brush to generously coat each piece of lettuce with dressing. Roll the coated lettuce in the fluff so all the pieces are nicely covered.
Meanwhile, pipe the filling in the holes in each Twinkie until stuffed. Put the filled Twinkies on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 3 minutes to warm the centers. Remove from the oven.
Put 2 warm Twinkies on each of four serving plates and gently rest a piece of lettuce on top of each Twinkie. Garnish each plate with 3 anchovy fillets and season with pepper.
Source: Cooking Like a Master Chef by Graham Elliot [Atria, 2015]