Food:: [more]

It's difficult to find a good caesar salad in Singapore, so I tasked myself with the creation, from scratch, of a yummy Chicken caesar. Here's the end result:

Now, I did omit anchovies / worcestershire sauce, which is tantamount to heresy in the world of caesars, but still, this is the closest I've come in Singapore to the caesar salads I enjoy in Brisbane (at friends awesome BBQs).

On Wikipedia, it is written that the Caesar salad is named after 'Hotel Caesar' in Tijuana. It's creator was Alex Cardini, who innovated the salad at his restaurant in Hotel Comercial, and subsequently shifted his kitchen to 'Hotel Caesar' (1929 ). Well done Mr Cardini.

Here's the recipe I used for the dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic (finely diced)
• 2 tbsp Parmesan
• Dash of light soy, dash of tabasco (I'm trying to replace worcestershire here)
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp mustard (dijon)
• pinch of sugar

Additionally, you'll need to prepare poached eggs (1 or 2 each person to preference), bacon, croutons and chicken.

When everything's ready, toss your romaine lettuce, extra parmesan, dressing and bacon untill nicely mixed, and sprinkle your croutons on top. Viola.

Grilled chicken

This chicken helps to give the salad a little more substance.

Marinade ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Mustard
• Basil (I couldn't get my hands on thyme)
• Salt

Blend the above together, score your chicken (if using breast), and marinade for 30 mins or more. Give the meat a good rub to get the salt in there. Keep some marinade aside for basting.

Fry on moderate heat until the exterior is starting to nicely brown. Transfer to the oven, for 10 to 15 minutes more (cooking time varies, use a skewer to check the clear-running juices).

This should give you an awesome looking and tasting slab of chicken. It should still be tender, even if you use breast.

When the chicken is ready, you can adorn your salad by tearing it into strips, or portion it chunk-wise, or serving separately.

Here's the chicken before and during consumption:

Croutons

You really have to make these yourself. You just need:

• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Bread

Simply dice you bread (3cm cubes or so), throw them in a baking tray, and baste with the oil/garlic mixture.

These are a little overdone, but still very yummy, and crispy.