The Best Caesar Salad

One of the beauties of local, pasture raised eggs is that they are far less likely to have any problems with salmonella, so eating raw eggs isn't like playing Russian roulette... Caesar salad has long been my favorite salad, but since I developed my version of a dressing I'm usually underwhelmed in restaurants. So here's dinner tonight: Silke's Caesar with Sirloin slices.

How to make the perfect caesar dressing? Start with one raw egg, zest and juice of 1 lemon, some chipotle powder or fresh chiles or red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and plenty of anchovies.

 

Slowly drizzle in about 1/2 cup of your favorite olive oil while whisking, especially the first few drops. (My favorite EVOO is either from California, or out of the backyard of my friends that live in Antibes in between beautiful olive trees.) Mix nicely until everything is emulsified and thickened.

 

Toss in romaine salad, cut up an avocado (shortcut: dice avocado while it's still in the skin, then scoop out with a spoon or the rounded side of a Santoku knife), grate Parmesan over the salad and add some fresh ground pepper, toss the salad, and voila, you'll never want to have caesar salad at a restaurant again!

San Francisco Chinatown followed by The Perfect Sirloin

What to do on a lazy Sunday? Lucky enough to live only an hour from San Francisco, it always seems a good idea to go there and spend the day walking and eating. The plan was to go to the Ferry Building's Farmers Market, but that's on Saturday - bummer. After a leisurely walk along the waterfront we dove into Chinatown - always good, but especially so on the verge of a China trip!

Rule #1: If you go to Chinatown, never eat in the tourist restaurants, but instead seek out the hole in the wall dim sum bakeries and noodle shops. We went for dim sum, and this was our $5 breakfast:

Fabulous shrimp, spinach and pork dumplings as well as some rice parcels with goodies in them. Strolling along Grant Street made my mouth water....

 

But alas, it all had to stay there, this blog is about my happy meat and I have a beautiful, happy sirloin steak waiting at home. It's been marinating in Teriyaki Sauce with a bit of Sriracha for kicks.

Notice how the grass fed beef doesn't have the marbled look, but the fat is in distinct areas? Much easier to cut off and hence better for you. And sooo yummy! Off to the BBQ it goes... And a little later it's at 130F internal temperature, gets a little rest, and here it is:

 

Spinach sauteed with some of the marinade as a side - voila, the perfect dinner!