One of my favorite dinner salad options in the summer has to be the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. Caesar salad is my favorite salad anyways!
Add some grilled chicken and I am one very happy camper! It makes a salad a meal!
We have had some stinking hot weather these past few days here in the Valley. Combine that with high humidity and nobody feels like cooking much!
Quick, easy and painless is the order of the day. I am not sure about you, but for me, when it gets hot and sticky like this, I don't really have much of an appetite anyways!
If I can have my dinner as a main dish salad, then I am perfectly content, and its more than enough for me to enjoy.
Today I created my favorite Chicken Caesar Salad in a size small enough to feed just two people. It may be smaller in size, but lacks none of the delicious flavors of the original!
Caesar Salad is such an easy salad to make. I can't understand why so many restaurants get it so wrong! I'll be honest here.
Its been a very long time since I have had a decent Caesar Salad in a restaurant. You pay an arm and a leg for it, and when it comes the lettuce is limp, the dressing weak and the whole thing looks like a complete afterthought.
I hate being disappointed when it comes to ordering and paying for good food! I have now gotten to the point where I don't order salads at all in restaurants. I find them to be a complete and total waste of money.
Which is a shame really. I started my culinary career as the pastry chef in a local hotel here in the Valley. I was responsible for the appetizers, salads and desserts. I can promise you, nobody got a weak salad, dessert or appetizer when I was on the job!
Its not that hard really to put together a good salad, with fresh crisp ingredients, and a tasty dressing. Not that hard at all.
I don't know why so many get it wrong! Its sad really.
For this tasty take on the delicious Caesar Salad you begin by rubbing some chicken with a Montreal Chicken Seasoning and grilling it to perfection.
You can do this outside if you have an outdoor grill, or you can do it inside on an indoor grill or a frying pan. (That's what I had to do this time.)
The dressing itself is a very simple and easy one to make. Lemon juice, garlic, yogurt, Anchovy paste, Dijon, Worcestershire and Parmesan cheese . . . simple ingredients.
You can also use a purchased dressing if you wish, but use a well flavored and good quality one. (In the UK, I liked Newman's Own, here in Canada, I like Renee's.)
I use real bacon, normally popping the rashers of streaky bacon onto a baking sheet and baking them in the oven to perfection while I am cooking the chicken.
Its really simple and if you line your baking sheet with baking parchment, there's no flipping and very little clean up involved. (Yes, I am that lazy!)
You could also use a really good quality of ready made bacon bits. Just don't use those nasty soy ones.
Well, I suppose you could if you were a vegetarian, but then why are you eating a Caesar salad anyways! Especially one with chicken, lol.
A ciabatta or a French bread both work very well. Ordinary sliced white bread, not so good.
I use Romaine lettuce, the heart. One good sized head is enough for two people.
It has a nice slightly bitter taste that goes well with everything else and I think it is fairly traditional in a Caesar Salad for just that reason.
You want to use a robust lettuce that is going to stand up to the flavors and textures of the other ingredients. Romaine does just that.
My mom would never eat any kind of lettuce other than iceberg. I don't think I knew any other kind existed when I was growing up. To be fair however, unless you grew it yourself there were not really any other kinds available.
Don't get me wrong. I adore iceberg lettuce. There are certain salads and applications that would not be the same without iceberg lettuce.
Think of the wedge for instance. It has such a lovely crisp quality that goes very well in burgers and the like as well!
But for other salads like this one, you want a more robust and flavorful lettuce. I cannot imagine making one with any other kind but romaine.
Oh, how I miss the baby gem lettuces that I used to get in the UK. They were like a baby romaine, tiny, crisp and dark green, but were also decidedly bitter.
They lent themselves very well to a blue cheese dressing. I used to make a lovely salad with a blue
cheese vinaigrette and spring onions, along with the baby gem lettuce.
Oh my but it was some good. Maybe next year I can grow some in a window box.
This is a quick and easy salad to make once you have all of the components ready. Cut your lettuce crosswise into chunks and scatter it on two places.
Likewise slice your chicken and lay the pieces on top. Scatter with the croutons and bacon pieces, then drizzle with the dressing.
I like to grind some black pepper over top, scatter with a bit of Parmesan and then pass a bit of extra dressing at the table. This is great summer eating, pure and simple. Enjoy!
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad for Two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
This is a fabulous deliciously light lunch or supper, depending on how hungry you are!
Ingredients
You will need:
- 1 head of Romaine (Cos) lettuce, washed, dried and sliced crosswise
- 4 slices of cooked streaky bacon, cut into slices
For the grilled chicken:
- 2 single free range boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Montreal Chicken seasoning to taste
For the croutons:
- two firm slices of white bread
- softened butter to spread
- Garlic Italian Seasoning to taste
For the Dressing:
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
- 1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 245g low fat Greek Yogurt (1 cup)
- 90g finely grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
- salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper
You will also need: (optional)
- 2 -3 TBS grated Parmesan Cheese to garnish
- freshly ground black pepper
- wedges of lemon
Instructions
- First make the dressing. Whisk all of the ingredients together and then cover and chill in the refrigerator until you need it. This can be done well ahead. You may not need it all, but it keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have a baking tray ready Butter the bread on both sides lightly. Cut into decorative shapes with a small cutter (about 1 inch in size). Place onto a baking tray in single layer and sprinkle with the Garlic Italian seasoning to taste. Toast in the oven until golden brown. 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Season the chicken all over with the Montreal Chicken Seasoning. (I make my own seasoning.) Heat a skillet over moderate heat, add a splash of oil. Put the chicken in top side down. Cook until golden brown on that side, about 7 minutes, flip over and cook for a further 6 to 7 minutes until cooked through and the juices run clear. Remove and let sit for about five minutes before slicing diagonally into 1/2 inch slices.
- Divide the salad greens between two large chilled plates. Place an equal portion of chicken in the center of each. Sprinkle on the bacon and croutons and cheese, again dividing them equally. Drizzle with a tiny bit of dressing and grind some fresh black pepper on top to taste. Pass the remaining dressing at the table, so that each person can use as much or as little as they want. Delicious!
I have a confession to make. I have never really made cinnamon rolls from scratch. At least not the yeasted ones. I have made my easy cinnamon rolls countless times through the years.
They are made using biscuit dough and are the ones I grew up with and the ones I used to make for my children. They were always very easy to make and to be honest I have always loved them more.
That's because I have/had never tasted a fresh out of the oven warm cinnamon roll. Believe it or not. The only yeasted cinnamon roll I have ever had were ones from the shops and to be honest I was never impressed.
Of course who knows how long those are in the shops before you get to eat them and most yeast breads don't taste as good the day afterwards.
I just always thought, why go to all that trouble for something which doesn't even taste that good. I was always just happier with my version, until today that is!!
I was looking for something small batch to bake. I usually only do baked goods like this on the weekend because I know that is when people have more time to bake. I spied this recipe for cinnamon rolls in a book I have called "Small Batch Baking", by Saura Kline.
The recipe made only six rolls, just the right size for me to enjoy myself and then gift a few on, so I thought why not!
I have to say the dough was very easy to put together. Of course I have that lovely kitchen aid stand mixer now (Thanks to Jen) and so yeast baking is not as much of a challenge for me these days as it used to be.
It went together in a snap and was rising before I could say lickety split. I was happy about that as I am on a tight deadline for today (Saturday as I write this) with a project which needed finishing by the 15th. (I can't wait to share it with you!)
So I wanted something easy to bake and who knew it would be these cinnamon rolls.
Leaving the dough to rise left me to get on with what I needed to be getting on with. It is a very easy dough.
It was also very easy to pat/roll out and then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar filling. It is made simply of brown sugar and ground cinnamon.
There is no faffing about. Just pat or roll out the dough, sprinkle on the cinnamon and then roll it up like a jelly roll, pinching the edges shut.
It was also easy to cut. You can use a piece of (NON-minty) dental floss for this, or a piece of invisible thread, like I did. Easy peasy.
Once its cut, just set the cut rolls in a buttered baking tin and leave them to rise again. Go off and do whatever while you wait.
Once again, very handy for me as I had things to do!
Then you just bake them. 22 minutes later you are rewarded with beautiful, tasty, soft, brown crusted cinnamon rolls. Ready to slather with a delicious cream cheese frosting.
The frosting was also really easy to make. I just banged everything into a small bowl, whisked the butter and cream cheese together and then banged in everything else until it was smooth.
It was recommended that you slather the icing on while the buns were fresh and hot out of the oven. Apparently they absorb some of that rich icing adding even more to their scrumptiousness!
And let me tell you, these ARE incredibly scrumptious!
I was only going to have a little taste and before I knew it I had inhaled the whole bun! Oh my but it was some good.
The dough was nice and soft and yeasty, with a lovely crisp crust.
That icing was lovely and rich. Not too sweet, but just sweet enough.
And it was beautiful, soaking down into all of the nooks and crannies of the bun. All of those little crevices, soaking up that rich deliciousness.
The two together were pure and utter bliss. And there was just enough sweet brown sugar cinnamon filling. It was the perfect amount.
Any more and it would be cinnamon bun overload. I wouldn't add anything else. Not raisins. Not nuts, nothing. These were perfect just as is.
David would have enjoyed these so much. Oh well, there is always the next time they come down and I truly hope that there will be a next time.
Oh, and my brother told me about a friend of his from Bangalore, Nazia, who sometimes reads the blog. I wanted to say a special hello to her! Hi Nazia!
What a small world we live in today. We can have friends and acquaintances all over the world. The world truly is a much smaller place now than the world we grew up in.
You need to bake these delicious cinnamon rolls. I know I plan on baking them again soon. I just know Tim and Eileen will really enjoy them! I think you will too! They are incredibly easy to make, delicious and really easy to eat! Maybe too easy! 😋
Cinnamon Rolls (Yeast, small batch)
Yield: 6 rolls
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 22 Mininactive time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 2 H & 7 M
There is only one word to describe these, GORGEOUS! I kid you not. Easy to make and oh so scrumptious!
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups plus 2 TBS (270g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tsp cinnamon
For the icing:
- 2 TBS butter, room temperature
- 2 TBS cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (65g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1 TBS milk
Instructions
- Warm the milk slightly. Sprinkle the yeast over top and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
- Measure the flour, salt and granulated sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one, fitted with a dough hook. (Alternately you can use an electric hand mixer.) Whisk together.
- Pour in the yeast mixture and mix on medium speed. Add the egg and butter and continue to mix until well combined and the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. It will be tacky.
- Butter a bowl and tip the dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise.
- Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Butter an 8 inch square pan. Set aside.
- At the end of an hour, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured counter top. Roll out to a 10 inch square with a lightly floured rolling pin. Sprinkle the top with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1/2 inch border all the way around.
- Roll the dough up tightly, like a jelly roll, from one edge. Pinch the edges closed. Cut the roll in half crosswise, then cut each half into three equal pieces. (Dental floss or clean fishing line work well for this.)
- Place cut sides down in the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise at room temperature for half an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls in the preheated oven for 22 minutes, until well risen and evenly browned.
- While the rolls are baking make the frosting. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla and just enough milk to give you a smooth frosting, beating all well together.
- Remove the baked rolls from the oven and slather the icing evenly over top immediately.
- Serve warm. Best eaten on the day.
A rose by any other name and all that!
What it is is a magical dessert where the batter splits into two discernable elements, with a delicious light and airy cake on the top and a rich indulgent lemon curd pudding on the bottom.
It is basically a very simple dessert which uses simple every day ingredients in a most delicious way to create something ethereal and wonderfully whimsically magic.
There is nothing out of the ordinary or unusual in it ingredient wise. Nothing magical. Just simple things.
A lemon, butter, flour, milk, sugar, cornstarch. That's all. Simple.
You may even think that if you are a singleton or a couple/smaller family, that this dessert is out of your reach unless you are having company.
You are wrong, if that is what you are thinking. Totally and completely and utterly wrong. Prepare to indulge yourself to the nth degree!
The version of that simple dessert I am sharing with you today is perfectly sized for just two people, or one with leftovers. (And who wouldn't love these leftovers!)
Small in size, yes, but not lacking any of the largesse when it comes to flavor of the larger original sized dessert.
That magical cake topping is perfectly light and airy, beautifully lemony.
A wonderful sponge as light as an angel's wings . . . a delicious angel. A lemony angel. A wickedly delicious angel . . . but that's not all . . .
You have that same beautifully, delicious, rich and lush lemon curd filling on the bottom. Oh my so yummy.
Indulgent and lemony. Not too sweet. Just tart enough.
It goes together quickly and easily. The most difficult part is waiting for it to cool down when it comes out of the oven.
But trust me when I tell you it will be more than worth the wait. You may think that it is something which you couldn't possibly make, but let me assure you it is incredibly easy to make. Just follow my handy tips.
First you will need to create a water-bath to bake the pudding in. This is nothing fancy, just a baking tin large enough and deep enough to accommodate your pudding dish with a bit of space surrounding it.
I used a small casserole dish for my pudding, approximately 7 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches in size. I set the pudding into my 9 by 13 inch cake tin. You then just carefully pour in boiling water to the depth of half the height of your pudding dish.
Just be very careful not to get any of the boiling water into the pudding itself (pour it in from the side of the cake tin) and careful not to splash any of the boiling water onto yourself as you put the whole thing into the oven.
I use oven mitts to transfer the pans and pop them onto the top rack, set in the middle part of my oven.
Another thing you will want to do is to ensure that the bowl you beat your eggs whites in is scrupulously clean. You don't want to be using a plastic boil with any film of fat or oil in it from past baking/desserts.
I always use a glass bowl for beating my egg whites. ALWAYS!!
Whisk or sift the flour and corn starch for the cake together. I know they are only small amounts, but you still want everything evenly distributed.
Its a simple thing really. Just measure them into a small bowl and whisk together with a small wire whisk or even a spoon if that is all you have. You want them evenly combined.
Have all of your ingredients at room temperature for the best results. Very easily done. The amounts are so small, you can just measure them out and walk away for half an hour before beginning to actually make the cake.
This is for a few reasons. Room temperature egg whites give much more volume when beaten. Also if you make sure all of your ingredients are the same temperature, you can be assured of a much better result or finish.
Don't panic if your mixture splits after you add the milk and the lemon juice. This is completely normal!
You will still end up with a perfect pudding. Trust me on this.
Size doesn't matter all that much, just so long as your dish holds three cups. My baking dish is a bit on the deep side, but you could use one that is shallower with a larger surface.
The larger dish will cook quicker, that's all. And the pudding won't be as deep. I find that the size I used for this today is the perfect size. You could even use a small loaf tin. Just make sure you butter it well so that the pudding doesn't stick to it too much.
Above all have fun. Enjoy the experience of making this and enjoy the experience of eating this!!
Maybe you are lucky enough to have a grandchild stay over night. This would serve three alright, because the servings for two people are very generous. I have to say.
You may want to serve it with some pouring cream or some whipped cream on top and that would be really delicious. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
Also if you are more than two and wanting to cook a larger version, you can access my full sized version here. Its tasty tasty too!
It serves four to six depending on how greedy you are! No judgement here.
Lemon Delicious for two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 Hourinactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 45 M
Somewhere between a cake and a custard, this simple dessert separates into two delicious layers when it bakes. Soft, light and airy lemon cake on top. Lush, creamy lemon pudding on the bottom. Perfectly sized for two people.
Ingredients
- 2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature (yolks and white separated)
- 1/2 cup (95g) finely granulated sugar
- 4 tsp plain all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch (corn flour)
- 2 TBS butter, at room temperature
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (120ml) full fat milk, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325*F/160*C/ gas mark 3. Have ready a well buttered 7 1/4 inch by 5 1/4 inch baking dish. (should hold 3 cups). Also a 9 by 13 inch cake tin, large enough to hold the baking dish with some space around it.
- Using a hand held electric mixer beat the egg whites until foamy on medium low speed. Increase the speed to high and begin adding 6 tablespoons of the sugar, one at a time. Beat until the mixture doubles in size and has stiff glossy peaks. Set aside.
- Beat the butter, lemon zest and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Sift together the flour and cornstarch. With the beaters on low, slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Add the milk and lemon juice.
- Stir in 1/3 of the beaten egg whites, using a rubber spatula. Fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Scrape this batter into the prepared baking dish, smoothing over the top.
- Place a folded clean dish rag in the bottom of the larger baking tin. Place the dish with the pudding in it on top. Carefully pour boiling water into the larger dish around the smaller dish to come halfway up the sides.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour. When done it should be golden brown and set with a slight jiggle in the middle.
- Remove from oven and carefully transfer the baking dish to a wire rack to cook for half an hour prior to serving. Delicious warm or at room temperature.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons