Cooking For Engineers

[ljtong]

Hello All,

My caesar salad dressing is always too watery. If I were cooking something, I would use corn starch to thicken it.
But what can/should I use for thickening a salad dressing?

[GaryProtein]

This is a little out of my realm, but how about using some pulverized croutons in the dressing to thicken it up?

[Michael Chu]

Are you using a recipe with coddled eggs? If not, you can try coddling (soft boiling for a short period of time) an egg or two and blending it into your dressing.

[dragonfly]

lj, what's your recipe? A classic ceasar dressing should be predominantly EVOO, which is at perfect consistency when refrigerated for it's resting time after mixing and prior to serving. Besides, I don't think ya really want a thick (creamy?) ceasar dressing; it's so powerful in flavor, it doesn't/shouldn't need to have a thick feel in your mouth. (YUK) Ya want my recipe?

[GaryProtein]

[ljtong]

Mine's quite simple:

mustard powder, mayonnaise, lemon juice, some olive oil at the end

Yeah I would definitely love a recipe for salad dressing...

any other ideas on thickening my dressing?

Thanks!!

[Channa]

I'd say you should stir in some of the grated cheese, but you don't seem to use cheese.

Are you using mayonnaise instead of the egg? I do, too. Have you tried adding some anchovies, or Worcestershire sauce, or garlic to give it a little more oomph? And then a lot of grated cheese when you toss it? If you're vegetarian, you can even find veg Worcestershire.

[szechjeff]

Particularly endorse the pulverized croutons idea. [My good friend used to call em "cretins" and, no, she wasn't one.]

You might also try pulverized walnuts. It would add a walnuty flavor but would certainly work in terms of thickening and overall richness. You'd have to make sure that any guests were not allergic to walnuts.

I live in San Diego which is just across the border from Tijuana. While there is always some debate, the origin of the caesar salad dressing has been credited to a Tijuana restauranteer/chef, Caesar Cardini, who invented it in 1924.

Best!

[GaryProtein]

There is a Caesar Cardini brand of salad dressings sold in New York, but I don't know how widely distributed it is.

[ashadanielle]

3 cloves garlic
2 eggs

blend

salt + pepper
5 dashes lee n perrins
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
one thumb of olive oil
handful of parmesan

blend

chill in refrigerator until time to use

the best

[Dilbert]

I have encountered many interesting measures,

but a "thumb of olive oil" is not one of them . . . .

how many ml is that?