The next few posts are going to be a little different as all the cooking was done on site at the Mackin House Museum in Coquitlam, B.C. The house was built in 1909 and has maintained it’s original design so it was a little tight for our group of participants.
I was there to offer a class on the popular foods of the 80s so the usual step by step pictures were not able to be taken. However, I thought you might enjoy a trip down memory lane. During the 1980’s there were a number of new elements absorbed into the standard American diet. One was salad.
Salad bars could be found in many restaurants. They were an attempt to offer healthy alternatives that pretty much went awry as plates were piled high with salad dressings and all the add-ons.
Spinach leaves with fruits and nuts was an adventure. Layered salads in a clear glass bowl that showed off all the colours was all the rage as well as pasta salad which was a tip of the hat to Italian cuisine, one of three cultures highlighted in the 80s.
In class, one of the students made Pesto Marinated Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with homemade dressing from the recipe below. It was fresh and crunchy with a delicious dressing. The chicken addition is optional in a side salad. Adding chicken turns it into a main course meal.
As we get into warmer days this is a salad as enjoyable now as it was forty years ago.
For the chicken you will need:
4 chicken breasts
3 Tbsp. pesto
1/3 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
Place the chicken breasts in a plastic bag. Combine the pesto, oil and pepper. Pesto was another new ingredient from the book of Italian cooking in the 80s. Of course, if your cultural background is Italian, then not so much. Stir well and add to the bag. Close the bag, getting as much air out as possible and then squeeze the mixture around the chicken. Allow to marinate for up to 24 hours. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the bag and place in aheated frying pan with a little oil, on the grill or on a foil lined cooked sheet for baking. 6-8 minutes on each side in the pan or on the grill will be just fine and 20 minutes in the oven total turning once should give you juicy cooked breasts. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing for the salad. ( It is also possible to purchase a cooked chicken from your local grocer if time is short ).
For the croutons:
½ baguette, sliced and halved or bread cubes
olive oil
salt & pepper
Most any bread you have handy will work for croutons. White and wholewheat work best. We sliced a baguette as the other half was needed for something else. Cut the slices in half and spread onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you choose to add a little ground parmesan cheese, it is probably best to leave off the salt. Place in a hot oven and toast until the bread is crisp but not too brown. The concept of “blackened” was very popular in the 80s but was applied to meat and fish not bread. Once ready, take out of the oven and put aside until needed.
For the lettuce:
2-3 Romaine lettuce hearts is the usual choice. We were able to find very large fresh healthy Romaine so went with one large head, using all the leaves. Wash and separate any brown sections. Allow the lettuce to dry. The next step is your choice. There is a tradition of tearing lettuce into bite size pieces rather than cutting the leaves. The purpose of this is to stop brown edges from forming. This salad was often made at the table by a waiter in the days of power lunches so there is no time between finishing the salad and serving it. The individual pieces are fairly large in comparison to other salads but they should not be so large that this salad becomes unruly to eat. Tear or cut the leaves into bite size pieces and put aside.
For the dressing:
5 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and mashed into a paste
2 large egg yolks ( more on this below )
1 clove garlic, grated or minced
2- 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Traditionally, the putting together of this salad starts with running a garlic clove around a wooden bowl before starting to blend the dressing together, by hand, in the bowl. There were no wooden bowls to use in the museum so all the dressing ingredients were put together into the blender on the left hand side of the first picture above and then pulsed to create the emulsion.
Although the recipe calls for 5 fillets, we used the entire small tin as there were no plans for the few leftover pieces and no one adverse to anchovies. Add the egg yolks, garlic, lemon juice and Dijon. Pulse a few times to blend. Slowly, very slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture a few drops at a time and mix well to fully combine before adding any more. This is the same technique as homemade mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce and is the tried and true method for creating an emulsion. However if you are 1. concerned about using a raw egg or 2. feeling like you don’t have the arm strength to keep up with the stirring for 5 – 7 minutes, there is another option. With a Magic Bullet, hand emulsifier or similar blender, use one hard boiled egg instead of the 2 raw yolks with the anchovy fillets, garlic and lemon juice and turn on and blend until thick and smooth. This option will give you a creamier finished dressing. Stir in the parmesan, add salt & pepper and possibly extra lemon juice to taste. Cover and place in fridge to rest.
To serve, add the dressing to the chopped lettuce. Toss and plate. Add croutons, extra Parmesan. Add chicken to the side or present as you wish. It is important not to over dress your salad, so keeping some dressing aside is is a good idea. It can always be added if more is needed.
This recipe served 8 as a side salad and was also served as a full meal option for 3 – 4.
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad from My Kitchen Wand
