Cooking with Mickey: Caesar Salad

I started this project a few days ago after the grocery shopping had already been completed, so I had to get a little creative with the recipes I’m making out of the Mickey Cookbook.  It had to contain stuff we already had around the kitchen.

We had tortellini from Trader Joe’s (I’m madly in love with Trader Joe’s) for dinner last night, and we needed something to go along with it.  We needed some kind of vegetable, and we found that vegetable in the form of a Caesar Salad, apparently from Disneyland’s Club 33.  I don’t know how much you know about Club 33, but it’s this exclusive restaurant within Disneyland’s New Orleans Square with a waiting list to join that is years long and membership costs in the thousands of dollars.  A member has to invite you to go in and have a meal.  Needless to say, I’ve never been.

I didn’t make my husband join a waiting list or pay me thousands of dollars to have dinner (Although, maybe that’s a good money-making venture. . .), but I did make this salad from Club 33.

I used a completely different recipe to make the croutons that I put in the salad, but I’ll include that as well.  (I made mine with fresh cheddar garlic bread I received in last week’s CSA box.  Those croutons were AMAZING.

One other note:  The recipe in the cookbook calls for a coddled egg in the dressing.  A coddled egg is very slightly boiled for about a minute.  I didn’t know what coddling an egg meant until I looked it up, and I learned that you should use very fresh eggs, and even then, there’s still the slight risk of salmonella.  

Since my eggs came from Aldi and not a nearby farm, I decided not to risk it, and used mayonnaise instead of an egg.  I think it turned out even better than it would have with a possibly-undercooked egg.

Dennis looked thoughtful when he took his first bite of the salad.  I thought something was wrong, but he told me he just wasn’t used to all the rich flavors.  Overall, I call this a win.

Caesar Salad

Adapted from Cooking with Mickey Around Our World
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 head lettuce (Romaine is best, but I used Iceberg.)
• 1 clove garlic
• Scant ¹/₂ cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Pepper
• ¹/₂ cup croutons (See recipe below to make your own.)
• Half a lemon or a few splashes of lemon juice
• Parmesan cheese
  
  

1. Combine a couple shakes of pepper, crushed garlic clove, mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.  Set aside.
2. Tear lettuce into medium-sized pieces.  Add croutons to lettuce and squeeze some lemon juice, either fresh or bottled, over the bowl’s contents.  Mix lightly.
3. Add the dressing and mix well. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve immediately.
   
   

And to make the croutons…

Garlic Parmesan Croutons 

Makes enough for two salads

Ingredients

• 4 half-inch thick slices of bread (French bread works well. I used a cheddar garlic loaf.)
• ¹/₄ cup butter
• 3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• ¹/₂ cup garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Cut the bread into ³/₄ -inch cubes and set aside.  
3. In a large skillet, melt the butter.  Stir the cheese and garlic powder into the butter, then add the bread cubes and stir until everything is combined.
4. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir, then bake for 10 minutes more. Cool completely.

These are DELICIOUS.