Mexican Caesar Salad

This is the classic Caesar salad with a Mexican flare. Fresh cilantro and toasted pepitas in the salad will transport you south of the border. Simple to make yet it will still please the most discriminating palate. This recipe will leave your guests most impressed with your cooking talents.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

• 1 French baguette, cut into ¾ inch cubes
• Garlic flavored olive oil for drizzling
• White truffle oil for drizzling (optional)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 6 shots Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash white vinegar
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ anchovies
• ½ bunch of cilantro
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ to ½ cup pepitas
• 1 ½ heads of Romaine lettuce, chopped
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. To make the croutons, place the cubed baguette on a baking sheet. Be sure not to cut them too small. Drizzle them with the garlic flavored olive oil. For more flavor, you can also drizzle white truffle oil with the garlic olive oil. Bake the croutons for about 10 minutes, until they are golden brown. You want them crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Next, place the egg yolk, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, white vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, anchovies, cilantro and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until it’s smooth and creamy.

Place the chopped Romaine in a large bowl. Drizzle about a third of the dressing on the salad (save the rest for a later use). Drizzle more if you like a wetter salad, less if you want it drier. Add the pepitas and Parmesan and toss to coat. Add the croutons and toss lightly.

Enjoy!

I welcome your comments. Click here to add your thoughts.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Your furry little friend will love these! They are all natural and easy to make. No preservatives and no artificial ingredients means your little (or big) friend will always want for more. Healthy and nutritious means one happy pooch!

For this recipe, you will need the following:

• 5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter
• 4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add the wheat flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir to combine. Next add the pumpkin, peanut butter and eggs. Blend together. If you notice that the dough is too stiff, you can add a little water. Not too much though, you want this to be a dough you can roll out. 

Once the dough is blended, divide it in half. It is much easier to work with it in halves than than rolling the entire batch at once. On a floured surface, take half of the dough and form it into a disk. Roll the disk out to about a 1/2 inch thickness. 

Then, place a couple tablespoons of flour in a small bowl. You will need to dip your cookie cutter in the flour periodically to prevent the dough from sticking. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, begin cutting out the dog biscuits. If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can simply cut the dough into random shapes. 

 

Place the cut cookies on a parchment lined (or on a Silpat) cookie sheet. Repeat this process with the second half of the dough. Bake the canine cookies for about 40 minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool a few minutes, Next, remove them from the cookie sheet and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely. 

 

This will allow the air to circulate making the cookie nice and crunchy. If you were to leave them on the cookie sheet, they may become a bit soft and not as crunchy. Once cooled, let your canine companion give them a try. If they're anything like my boys, they'll be grinning from ear to ear!

Enjoy!

I welcome your comments. Click here to add your thoughts.