Sunday, February 8, 2009

Never say never . . .

My hard and fast rule is that winter is for planning the garden, spring is for gardening. I never, ever do anything in the garden between December 1 and March 1. Never. Ever.

However, the 68 degree weather today was just too tempting. With apologies to Piet Oudolf, I was tired of brown today and cut back all of the perennials whose contrasting textures and variable shades of brown I had been admiring. No more. Today was a day to quickly tidy before firing up the grill for our first Sunday night steak and Caesar salad for 2009.


Here's my family's famous Caesar dressing recipe:

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
4-6 anchovy filets
1 tsp. Lea & Perrins
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1 egg (room temperature)

Toss everything into a blender for about 1 minute. Pour over 2-3 heads of romaine lettuce, add seasoned croutons and toss. Serves 8-10 (unless any of my brothers are within 5 miles, then serves only 4).

3 comments:

  1. Tried your dressing and it was AMAZING. Thanks for such a tasty tip! xx

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  2. Can't wait to try the dressing... I found a recipe in a betty crocker cook book years ago that I loved, and my kid have come to love too... but don't always make it just right (I'm a 'recipe from memory' type; although I realize I should write it down if I want the taste to be consistent).

    We love to mix cooked bow-tie pasta with the salad, and top with grilled chicken... need little prep time so that the lettuce is nice and cold so it doesn't wither too much with the addition of the grilled chicken.

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  3. So I finally got around to trying it... Fantastic. Will definitely become a staple in our summer diet.

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