Let's Make a Caesar Salad

My husband and I go out with the guys for wings on Tuesday night during dart season.  It's just a casual little outing that doesn't cost much and gets me out of the house during the winter months.  Trust me, I much prefer staying indoors in the winter!  The days of 10¢ are long gone; they are up to 39¢  What I don't like about the restaurant we go to is the lack of consistency o one week they are great, the next week they are so so but they have never been horrid.  They really are the only restaurant in town with chicken wings and the guys want wings.  I usually get Caesar salad with no wings but sometimes get it with 6 wings.  Caesar salad is my absolute favourite salad.  Honestly though, restaurants seriously over charge for a Caesar salad with the average price per serving at $7 but it is one of the least expensive salads to make and most restaurants do not make their own Caesar salad dressing to begin with.

Caesar salad starts with fresh, Romain lettuce.  Romain lettuce is packed full of nutrients and it's easy to prepare.  Wash the Romain lettuce then pat dry.  Remove the harder centre stem.  Stack the prepared Romain lettuce leaves on a cutting board (1).  Roll the leaves to form a tube (2).  This is called a chiffonade and is commonly used with basils and leafy vegetables although it could be used for making thin strips of lunch meat as well.  Cut lengthwise through the rolled lettuce into half-inch strips being sure to hold the base tightly (3).  Cut across the strips in half-inch intervals (4).  You now have the lettuce base for a great Caesar salad.

Any good salad starts with good ingredients and a Caesar salad is no different.  Fresh lemon juice is a requirement of a good Caesar salad as it makes the salad sparkle.  Don't use the bottled lemon juice  Cut the lemon into wedges (5) then use one to drizzle over the cut lettuce and serve the rest of the wedges with the salad.  Some prefer a bit more lemon taste.

I seriously detest when I pay a premium price for Caesar salad to be served 'artificial bacon bits' or worse yet 'bacon flavoured soy bits'.   I make a lot of pea meal bacon but for Caesar salad like the thick cut bacon (6) my husband loves.  I also don't like it cut into small pieces either.  Sorry, but I like to taste the bacon in Caesar salad.  I prefer homemade croutons made from home baked bread not the dump from the bag, store bought version.  I don't make my own Caesar salad dressing (8).  Instead, I use Renee's Gourmet Might Caesar salad dressing.  This dressing contains no artificial colourants, flavours, sugars, and it is gluten free.  It's low in saturated fats as well.  Renee's contains no preservatives so must be refrigerated from time of purchase to use.  I usually just mix it in with a fork.

After adding the dressing, I squeeze in the juice of one to two wedges of fresh lemon depending on the size of the salad and mix it in.  Then I pour the dressed lettuce into the serving bowl and top with bacon pieces and croutons with fresh ground pepper, fresh grated Parmesan cheese and lemon wedges on the side.  I've even added fresh lemon zest on top of the salad for entertaining.

Caesar salad is simple yet elegant.  It is very easy to make, always sure to please.  It took me a lot more time to edit pictures for this post and write.  I can have a Caesar salad on the table from start to finish in less than 10 minutes.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Grass Fed Beef

Years ago well before our kids ever started school, my husband and I always dealt with local beef farming friends for our beef who believed as we did that grass fed beef is healthier for us.  Cannings Free Range Butchers is one larger scale farm producing grass fed beef and free range animals.   We actually took it further because our pork and chicken are free range, locally raised by people we know.  They are small scale producers with only 5 to 10 cattle.  The organic farmer I get my chickens and eggs from only has about 20 chickens and a rooster.  There is a notion that grass fed, hormone free beef is more expensive but that simply is not the case.  We pay about $2.30 per lb across board for all cuts of beef, so one pound of sirloin steak will cost us $2.30 as will one pound of ground beef.  The reality is, overall we pay less for our grass fed, hormone free beef than we would pay for store bought than store bought, farm factory raised beef.  We know the cows were treated in a humane fashion during their life-time.  The bottom line is, grass fed, free range beef is the healthier choice in frugal kitchens.  Here's a few pointers:

• ethical and humane treatment -  Animals raised for food still deserve good and humane treatment over their life-time.  That means they are not caged in areas so small they can barely move.  The farmer usually is a small time producer with a herd numbering under 20 depending on the animal but it is definitely not large scale farming.  The farmer and/or family is tied to the farm and the welfare of the animals meaning they are the primary care givers for those animals.  In most cases, they don't have hired help and if they do, it is likely a seasonal worker to help out if they are away but more likely it is a family member or neighbour that comes in to help the farmer if needed.
• grass-fed - I honestly cannot stress enough the importance of free-range grazing aka grass-fed.  That means the livestock is not being fed grain, usually corn.  Corn, as used for livestock feed is most likely GMO and proteins from the corn can be rather problematic for the growing number of folks experiencing severe corn allergies.  Grass-fed livestock tend to have stronger immune systems so are healthier requiring less intervention via antibiotics, another growing concern.  Antibiotics given to livestock can leave trace residue in the meat that later affect humans consuming the meat.
• no growth hormones - Farm factory raised meats are often given growth hormones to get them ready for market quicker.  That is not the case with local producers raising grass-fed beef or other livestock.  Growth hormones can cause a lot of problems in children and are now implicated in the earlier onset of puberty in young girls.
• eco-friendly - In general, those farmers using grass-fed and free-range methods are those who are most concerned about the environment.  They tend to use green growing methods that have lower carbon footprints.  In most cases, the livestock they sell is sold locally meaning lower transportation costs from farm to table and they don't use practices that pollute the land or waterways.

My Version of Pigs in a Blanket

My husband and I host a monthly games night that sees anywhere from 15 to 25 plus ourselves.  Then there are the special games nights or all day events like Superbowl, the weekly Sunday gatherings, along with family and friends.  Essentially, we have one or two things going on at our house weekly that involve entertaining.  That means over the course of a one month period, I make a lot of appetizers and finger food!

There are just some appetizers and snacks that are always in high demand.  So it is with pigs in a blanket.  The original recipe uses mini hot dogs and Pillsbury refrigerator crescent rolls.  Each package of crescent rolls will yield 8 pigs in a blanket but if you are making a lot of these as I do, wrapping them individually takes more time.  I seriously went through 5 tubes of the Pillsbury refrigerator crescent rolls making these last Saturday!  I have tried other dough coverings but the refrigerator crescent rolls are the ones that always win out perhaps because that is how their Mom's made pigs in a blanket.

I modified the recipe to use Schneiders 100% Juicy Jumbos (wieners).  These wieners contain no fillers, no by-products and no MSG.  These wieners are longer than the regular sized wieners. I open the tube of refrigerator dough but instead of breaking into the crescent triangles, I just separate it into two rectangles (4 triangles each).  Then I place one jumbo wiener at the short end of a rectangle and roll it up.  I bake as per instructions on the tube, 400°F until golden brown as pictured.

Once baked, I remove from the oven, place on a cutting board and cut on the diagonal using a serrated knife.  I pop a wooden toothpick into each slice for serving.  I usually put out dipping bowls of BBQ sauce and sometimes I put cheese in with the wieners, but the big ticket item is the plain pigs in a blanket.

Cut this way, the yield is usually 12 per tube of refrigerator dough instead of 8 wrapped traditional style.  I think making pigs in a blanket this way is a lot easier and they look just as yummy plus I don't have to buy those smaller wieners.  They may look a bit unconventional but the guys love them!

Kitchen Quick Tips - Save That Bacon Grease

Bacon grease is packed full of flavour.  Use it in place of oil for pan frying chicken, pork or venison.  Use bacon grease when stir frying Brussels sprouts, cabbage or greens.  Stir a bit into potato soup for a bit of extra flavour. Some store bacon grease on in a container on the counter but I prefer to store in the refrigerator or freezer.