Caesar Salad Dressing

We are having a run of spectacular summer-like weather right now.

We dusted off the grill (on our NEW DECK! At our NEW HOUSE!!!) and dug out our bags of charcoal this weekend.

As soon as the chicken was settled into its marinade I knew I wanted to have grilled caesar salad along side. We make this pretty often, but I usually dress it with store bought cesar. But, as we were breaking in a new home I decided to try my hand at the real stuff - with loads of anchovies and an egg yolk. I read about 2 dozen recipes. In the end, I took what I thought was best from them all and just went for it. The results were great. Creamy, garlicy, a touch salty. The slightly charred romaine wilts a bit and just soaks up the garlicy dressing.

I whizzed this up in the blender and let it rest a few hours before serving. The garlic flavor intensifies with the rest.

Makes about one cup
Caesar Dressing
2-3 cloves of garlic
juice of one large lemon
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon honey
squirt (a teaspoon?) of dijon mustard
5-10 anchovy filets - drained of oil
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Add garlic, lemon juice, egg yolk, honey,  mustard and anchovies to the blender. Blend about 30 seconds.
2. Add olive oil and blend about a minute, or until it begins to thicken and becomes pale yellow.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning with the salt and pepper.

(To grill the romaine, slice heads in half length-wise. Put cut side down on the grill ( off the direct heat)from 2-3 minutes, or until slightly charred. Douse with dressing, and sprinkle with shaved parmesan cheese.)

Cutest, Prettiest Refrigerator EVER!

I am not a fan of current refrigerator. It is too small, with the freezer up top. That said I am totally enamored with this very small, retro Smeg refrigerator!

West Elm is now selling retro Smeg refrigerators in all sorts of fabulous colors. I am particular to the pastel green, or the bright red. I can imagine them in a hip bar filled with local brews and icy white wines.

Or in my dream kitchen (I may need 2 though).

Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Croutons

My hubby and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We headed out for a date night to a local French restaurant, and upon parusing the menu my husband immediately requested the cauliflower soup.
I was sort of appalled by this request. Nothing about cauliflower soup screams romantic! Decadent! Worthy appetizer to celebrate 5 years of marriage! But, I will admit, when the tureen of silky, pale soup arrived at the table I had a change of heart.

Turns out Justin has been loving this soup for far longer than he has been loving me. As seen in the hand written recipe card he wrote around age 8. He loved his grandmother's recipe so much he copied it down. If I had known he was carrying around this recipe card I would have whipped up a batch years ago, but he kept this love hidden away.

Going off of this recipe and what the chef at the restaurant suggested I came up with an extremely simple version of the soup. Don't let that fool you though, it is actually a very festive dish, worthy of any type of celebration. Even if that is just celebrating surviving a Thursday.

I topped the smooth soup with garlic croutons I made from leftover baguette. Any crunchy bit of bread would do, but the garlic made the soup pop.  Feel free to leave the cream out of the soup, it is still delicious without it.

Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Croutons
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
4-6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 - 1/2 cup cream or half and half
salt, pepper

3 cups cubed stale bread
4 garlic cloved, finely chopped
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
salt

1. In a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and let cook slowly, without browning for about 20 minutes.
2. When onions are soft, add garlic and cauliflower and continue the slow cooking about another 20 minutes until cauliflower begins to soften.
3. Add broth. Cover and simmer until cauliflower is soft.
4. Puree mixture either in a blender or with a stick mixer.
5. Stir in cream, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning.

To make croutons:
1. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Put bread cubes in, sprinkle with garlic and olive oil.
3. Toast, turning often, until bread begins to brown and the garlic smells fragrant. About 5 minutes.

To serve:

Ladle hot soup into a bowl and top with croutons and a drizzle of the fried garlic.