December Recipes:

If you love having a good chicken Caesar salad as much as I do in the Summer, well there’s a great way to enjoy it in the colder months too. In this blog I thought I would share an easy recipe that anybody can do at home with a chicken Caesar salad perfect for the Fall and Winter.

The trick to this recipe though is how we make the chicken and the croutons. We use bone-on chicken thighs and legs cut from a whole piece of chicken then trussed and tied and take a round piece of Focaccia bread put it underneath the chicken and let the juices roast away from the chicken into the thick herbed bread when we put it in the oven.Afterwards, you get nice chicken-flavoured Focaccia croutons which will make your chicken Caesar salad have another chicken component added into it. Although I like to promote gourmet food healthy and nutritious, this recipe does have more fat content than a traditional Caesar salad made with boneless-skinless chicken breast and olive oil croutons. The total time for this recipe is about an hour and can easily be made as an entree for dinner. I like to make my own Caesar dressing, but if you know of a good bought-in product, there are some good ones out there that you can use, but below is dressing recipe anybody can do. It’s not how we do it in the restaurants, but it is a quick and easy method that still gives you a home-made Caesar dressing flavour.

For my clients, this item can gladly be added to your menu and cooked for you by myself and my team as an entree at your next event, or weekly personal chef service menu plans.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more recipes. Please send me your questions and requests for other recipes.

Roasted Chicken Caesar Salad

x2 chicken thighs + legs

x2 Romaine hearts

x1 Focaccia bread

x1 sprig Rosemary

x1 sprig Thyme

Salt + black pepper (to taste)

2 cups Caesar dressing (see recipe)

Easy Caesar Dressing Recipe:

½ cup sour cream

X2 fillets anchovies

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns

1 tbsp grated Parmesan

½ tsp salt

½ tsp Worchestire sauce

Method:

Mash together the garlic and the anchovies into the olive oil first then add the remaining ingredients and mix very well. Season the dressing with more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice if necessary.

Salad Assembly:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F

2. Take your chicken thighs/legs and tie them as necessary to promote even cooking. Slather the chicken in some butter or olive oil for a nice brown crispy skin and chop half of your herbs and apply to the chicken with some salt and pepper.

3. Take a skillet or roasting pan and place the Focaccia bread inside.

4. Take a rack and place over the bread, the place the 2 tied chicken thigh + legs on the top of the roasting rack. Take aluminum foil and half over the chicken and check on the chicken in about 20-25 mins.

5. Take the skillet or roasting pan out and flip the Focaccia over so the other side will not burn and will be able to absorb some of the juices from the chicken. Put the roasting rack with the chicken back onto skillet or roasting pan and place in the oven another 20-25 mins.

6. Take the chicken and bread out and let the chicken rest for about 10 mins slightly covered with aluminum foil.

7. While the chicken is resting, coarse chop your Romaine, chop your Focaccia bread into croutons and grate, or slice (whatever your prefer) your Parmesan and mix together in a bowl with the Caesar dressing. Sometimes a small squirt of lemon juice added in while tossing adds a nice zing to the salad.

8. Place your salad onto a large dinner plate, take your chicken and pull apart the meat from the bone onto the salad.