The Best Chicken Caesar
Prep
15m
Cook
15m
Total
30m
Bigly says
Many people don't know this. The Caesar salad — the greatest salad ever conceived by a human being — was invented in TIJUANA, not Rome, by a guy named Caesar Cardini in 1924. Look it up. I had people look it up. It's all true. And the world has been disrespecting that salad ever since. Every chain restaurant. Every sad bagged kit at the supermarket. Total disasters. Soggy, gloppy, drowned in beige sauce. SAD.
But not mine. Not Bigly's Caesar. This Caesar has CRUNCH. This Caesar has BACKBONE. The croutons are real croutons — actual bread, torn by human hands, toasted in olive oil — not those little orange foam pebbles from a bag that taste like Styrofoam, you know the ones, you've eaten them at weddings, you pretended to like them, it was a lie, we all lie about it, time to stop. The dressing is real. Anchovies, real anchovies, and I know — I KNOW — some of you just made a face. Tough. Trust Bigly. The anchovies disappear. They become magic. You'd never know they were there except your salad suddenly tastes like the greatest salad on Earth, which is what we're doing here.
And the chicken. The chicken on top. Tremendous. Seared in a hot pan, sliced thick, juicy in the middle. Not those dry sad strips from the deli case, the ones that have been sitting under a heat lamp since before the printing press — and I'm not exaggerating, the food media won't say it but deli chicken is OLD, it's been there a long time, you can feel it — we're cooking real chicken, fresh, hot, on the salad, the way the universe intended. End of discussion.
Ingredients
- 2 large (about 1.25 lb total)boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp, dividedolive oil
- to tastekosher salt
- to tasteblack pepper
- 3, chopped into 2-inch piecesromaine hearts
- 4 cups, torn into 1-inch chunksrustic bread (sourdough or Italian)(tear it, don't cube it, tearing makes craggy edges that crisp)
- 3 cloves, for the croutonsgarlic, smashed
- 2 largeegg yolks(use the freshest eggs you can find)
- 6anchovy fillets in oil(do NOT skip these, they vanish, they only do good)
- 1 clove, for the dressinggarlic, finely grated
- 1 tspdijon mustard
- 2 tbsplemon juice, fresh
- 1 tspworcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup, for the dressingextra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup, dividedparmigiano-reggiano, finely grated(the real stuff with the rind, not the green can, ever)
- 1/4 cupparmigiano-reggiano, shaved with a peeler (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Pat the chicken breasts dry and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- 2
Sear the chicken 5-6 minutes per side, until deeply golden and the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Transfer to a cutting board and rest 5 minutes.
- 3
While the chicken cooks, make the croutons: heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and the smashed garlic in a second skillet over medium heat for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- 4
Discard the garlic. Add the torn bread and a pinch of salt. Toast, tossing often, 5-7 minutes until deeply golden and crisp on the outside but still chewy inside. Set aside.
- 5
Make the dressing: mince the anchovies on a cutting board, then mash them into a paste with the side of a knife. Scrape into a bowl.
- 6
Whisk in the egg yolks, grated garlic, mustard, lemon juice, and worcestershire. Slowly drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil while whisking constantly to form an emulsion.
- 7
Whisk in 1/2 cup of the grated parmesan. Taste and adjust with more lemon, salt, or pepper.
- 8
In a large bowl, toss the romaine with about three-quarters of the dressing until every leaf is coated. Add the croutons and the remaining 1/4 cup grated parmesan and toss again.
- 9
Slice the rested chicken into thick strips on the bias. Divide the salad among plates, top with sliced chicken, shave parmesan over the top, and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.
One more thing
That's a Caesar. A REAL Caesar. Not the soupy disaster they serve you at chain restaurants — you know the ones, you walk in, they hand you a menu the size of a tablecloth, the salad shows up looking like a wet rug, you nod politely, you tip 20%, it's a SCAM — this is the real thing. The romaine has crunch. The dressing has backbone. The chicken is hot, not the lukewarm rubber strips from the salad bar. People will eat this and they will reconsider their entire relationship with the word 'salad.' That happens. They write to me. They say, 'Bigly, I never knew.' I know. I know. That's why I'm here. Tell your friends.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Chicken Caesar.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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