If you’re the kind of person who likes the TASTE and TEXTURE of boxed-mix brownies, but really want to make them from scratch, to give them more chocolaty flavor, this will hit all your buttons.

Surely I’ve mentioned before that when I go to sleep at night I usually plug into my iTouch, using my earbuds, to podcasts that I’ve subscribed to through iTunes. About every 2 weeks or so I need to re-charge it and download all the oodles of new podcasts that are in my queue. Recently I heard or read that Cook’s Illustrated, well actually the folks at America’s Test Kitchen decided to start doing a radio show and podcast with Chris Kimball and Bridget Lancaster. I immediately signed up through iTunes. Each episode is about an hour (no commercials on podcasts, either). When I’m ready to drift off to sleep I generally set my iTouch to play for about 15 minutes and 99% of the time I’m asleep by then. The next night I may go back and replay it if I have no recollection of what I listened to.

Anyway, this new podcast is really interesting. I’m liking it a LOT, actually, and it was on a recent show that they talked about brownies. Through some survey they did, it was discovered that many people like the texture – the chewiness – of box-mix brownies. But the chocolate flavor is muted. Certainly not enough chocolate is contained in those mixes. So the C.I. people began a search for the perfect chewy brownie (you do have to have a free membership with C.I. in order to get to the recipe, but that’s the link) with that wonderful crackly top that is so reminiscent of those box mix types. But one that contained some really good, true flavor of chocolate. I enjoyed listening to all the steps they went through to finally discern that they were completely on the wrong track about the fats – they needed to use more oil than butter. They used a combination of Dutch-process cocoa and unsweetened chocolate in the batter and a few ounces of chocolate bits folded in at the end. They also tried baking the brownies on a pizza stone (somewhere they read that increasing the heat on the bottom of the brownie pan helped make a chewy texture). Their tests said no. Another recommendation was to add caramel sauce to the batter, to add chewiness. Nope, that didn’t work either. And lastly, they were advised to put the cooked pan in an ice bath; they didn’t find that was successful in making a chewy brownie either. It took a visit to their science editor to learn more about ratios of fat and they finally got on the right track.

These LOOK like box mix brownies. And they definitely DO have the texture like box mix brownies. And chocolate – that’s in there too. Plus some espresso powder – I just LOVE the King Arthur espresso powder – it’s a fine grind dried espresso – never clumps or spoils (as I write this, their website says they’re out of it . . . check back). What it does is enhance the flavor of chocolate – they just go together like Jamocha Almond Fudge! I watched the interior temp carefully – the directions said to use a toothpick halfway between the edges and middle. I actually took the internal temp there. At 30 minutes it was 208°. I baked another 5 minutes and removed them without taking the temp again. Maybe I should have. I preferred the brownies from the outer edges – they had just a bit of drying edges, which I liked. The interior pieces were on the wet/moist side. Dense, although they weren’t under done by any means. Kind of like in between brownies and fudge almost.

What I liked: all of the things I was supposed to like about this type of chewy brownie – texture, chocolate flavor, crumb and appearance! Will it become my new favorite – probably not (and that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it, it’s just that I think I prefer a little less sweet brownie and one with a slightly drier texture). I do like those box-mix brownies, although I’ve only made one of them once in many years, so I’m glad I tried these.

What I didn’t like: nothing, really, if you prefer this type of brownie. That almost sounds like it’s a negative comment – it’s not meant to be. I might possibly bake them to 212° next time just to see what happens since at 210° the interior pieces were still very moist for my taste.

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A so-very refreshing salad made with some grilled Cara Cara orange segments, some of those ultra-thin rice noodles, crab (or you could use chicken, or shrimp even) with a tangy citrus, garlic, lemon grass dressing. Add veggies of your choice (this one contains cucumber, carrots and mint).

It’s really quite fun cooking when somebody else has done all the sous-chef work, the grunt work. At the class I attended (sponsored by Sunkist, to introduce me to the cara cara oranges), they set up little work stations including one of those free-standing induction cooktops for each group of 3, so we grilled the oranges for this salad (I’d not done that before), made the dressing and put the salad together right there. We added in cucumber, a bunch of julienned carrots, a bunch of fresh mint and topped the salad with some chopped peanuts.

The oranges are drenched in a bit of the dressing, then grilled just long enough to get pretty grill marks on them, then they can be removed. This could be made ahead of time as the oranges don’t need to be served hot. The point is just to make them attractive! The rice noodles could be made an hour or so ahead of time too, although when they sit, they start getting sticky and it’s much harder to separate the strands. You don’t want big clumps of noodles that are very hard to eat. When you toss the dressing into the noodle mixture, mix it around – best method is your hands, although we didn’t do that!  – and separate the noodles as much as you can.

Over the years I’ve learned that it’s best to mix the main ingredients together and leave out the protein (crab, shrimp, chicken) and put those on each serving, so each person gets the same amount. Put a little bit of dressing on the crab too so all of the salad is dressed. You could add some sugar snap peas, some snow peas, some blanched asparagus cut up in pieces, even some very small florets of broccoli. It might not be quite so authentic, but it would be good! Put the pretty oranges on top, decoratively and you’re set. A bunch of green onions would be good in this too, including some of the dark green part.

What I liked: It was such a beautiful salad – the color contrasts were gorgeous (I suppose that’s the artist’s eye in me). The taste: really yummy. I liked the different textures and particularly liked the addition of the citrus.

What I didn’t like: really nothing. We don’t eat many carb-centric dishes, however, so it would be a special treat. I liked the crab and also think shrimp would be a great alternative. Worth making.

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Shall I just tell you that if I’d had a spoon, mine would have been in the pot of sauce, eating spoonful after spoonful of that balsamic and goat cheese combination; it was THAT good. What you see on the right front is a grilled cipollini onion – a VERY grilled cipollini. You might think it’s burned – nope! Absolutely meltingly tender.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a cooking class with James Clark, the chef at Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar in San Diego. He was a very charming man and had all of us 50+ students nearly eating out of his hand (well, not literally). With a few stories interspersed throughout his monologue, this recipe was a real standout. And as I mentioned above, if I could have had a little BOWL of the sauce on the side, it would have been eaten straight. It was just addictive. The class was busy – well, I mean HE was busy. First he made soup, the Croce’s Mulligatawny Soup. Then he made twice-baked potatoes (I probably won’t write up that one just because it’s so simple: to the whipped potatoes, just add butter, goat cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and half and half and put them back into the potato skin; bake them about 15 minutes, along with the cipollini onions), he prepped the asparagus and the cipollini, made the glaze, the marinade. And he made the salad – I’ve written that up already: Pear, Arugula and Fennel Salad. That one was so good. I have one more recipe to go, as well, the dessert. You’ll get all the recipes from this class eventually.

The pork is marinated for 2-3 hours (no longer, no overnight marinade), grilled, then baked in the oven. It rests 5 minutes then it’s sliced and served with the cipollini onions and asparagus. AND the fabulous balsamic goat cheese glaze drizzled all over it. Make it, okay?

What I liked: the sauce, the sauce, the sauce. And the onions too. Pork was lovely too.

What I didn’t like: nothing – it looked easy to do, and some of the work can be done ahead.

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This creamy asparagus soup was our dinner the other night – ‘tis the season for asparagus and I had a big bunch to use up. Nothing very different about it – just a good old-fashioned thick and creamy soup with some crème fraiche and fresh chives.

What I needed was an asparagus soup recipe that didn’t require me to go to the market, so I went to Eat Your Books and found one right away, in Dorie Greenspan’s book, Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. I didn’t cleave to her recipe exactly, but close enough that I can say my recipe below was inspired by hers. But then, asparagus soup can only have so many ingredients, right? Asparagus, either onion or leeks, maybe garlic, maybe not, some cream or half and half (I used both), chicken broth, maybe shallots. This recipe doesn’t disappoint. Our fresh chives are just growing to beat the band lately, so I used a bunch for garnish. And the crème fraiche for a little blob of goodness on top.

Her recipe called for 2+ pounds of asparagus. I didn’t have that much – we’d already had one or two meals with asparagus, so this was about 1 1/4 pounds. But you know what? Soup is very forgiving. If you have a pound – use that. If you don’t have garlic, eliminate it. No leeks? Well, use more onion. No chicken broth? Use vegetable broth or water. Wing it – that’s what I do all the time. This recipe also uses the asparagus root ends to add extra flavor. I liked that part – asparagus is such a subtle, delicate flavor that it’s nice to have more of it! It’s a bit of a nuisance to do because those parts gets scooped out and discarded. I re-arranged the recipe to make it easier. I think Dorie’s recipe has you make the entire soup in one pot, but I wanted to speed up the process and used two.

What I liked: the consistency – I didn’t strain the soup, so it had plenty of texture from the asparagus, leeks and onions. It is whizzed up in the blender (I used my immersion blender in the pot) so it’s a smooth soup. Loved the dollop of crème fraiche too.

What I didn’t like: nary a thing. Just that I didn’t make enough of it! Wish I’d had more asparagus.

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First I must tell you I actually haven’t read this book, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil . I have 3 books going right now and there’s definitely not time in the near future for me to add another. But I would like to read it (I’ve ordered it actually), especially after reading the review of it in the Los Angeles Times  last weekend. It’s the review that prompted me to go searching further on the subject. And to write up this post about it.

If you do a search for the title of the book you’ll find any number of links, to amazon of course, but also to NPR who did a review of it. Also a couple of naysayers who have olive oil blogs or websites. And I’m no expert – I’m only telling you about what I read in the article in the Times.

Russ Parsons (the Time’ reviewer), a long time writer for the newspaper, and major food/recipe contributor, is someone I trust. I like the way he writes. I like what he writes. In this article he talked about how, in 1985, he heard from a friend who had just returned from Tuscany, that there had been a major freeze there, which cracked most of the producing olive trees in half, killing them. So Parsons jumped to the conclusion that there would [surely] be a deep shortage of Tuscan olive oil the following year. Indeed, the Tuscan trees were devastated. But that next year, using a little-known fact about the agricultural system in Italy, the olive oil producers in Tuscany merely imported oil from Spain and Algeria. It didn’t matter how much “real” Tuscan oil was in the can or bottle – they could use mostly Spanish and Algerian for that matter and still call it extra virgin Italian (Tuscan) olive oil. It’s also supposed that there was a lot – a LOT of cottonseed oil added to the olive oil too (also okay by Italian regulations).

What we may know as “light” olive oil is actually (most likely anyway) low grade olive oil mixed with cottonseed oil to thin it out, making it less olive-y, less pungent. So why not just use vegetable oil? Indeed!

So based on that, I’m paying heed to Mueller’s points. So who is Tom Mueller? He’s a writer for the New Yorker,  but he lives in Liguria amidst his large olive tree farm. Over the years, he obviously has done a lot of research about olive oil – probably a real eye-opener when he discovered that the Italian rules are rather lax about the derivation of their olive oil. And incidentally, that phrase about “first press” or “cold press” oils – that’s all bunk, because really nobody actually uses an olive press anymore – they use more modern equipment.

I did a bit of sleuthing and found this quote from his very interesting website.

[During the writing of the book, I] immersed myself in olive oil. I’ve traveled on 4 continents, meeting olive millers and oil-bottlers, lipid chemists and fraud investigators, oil-making monks and oil crooks, chefs and government regulators and oil sommeliers, as well as countless eager consumers, some of them life-long experts, others enjoying their first taste of great oil. In the process I’ve learned a lot about one of humankind’s most magnificent foods, this essence of health and flavor. I’ve met olive growers and oil-makers whose divine nectars deserve to be celebrated around the world, treated with reverence and gratefulness. And I’ve seen that they’re losing their shirts.

The book, I’m supposing from the article, tells you which olive oil producers are the fraudsters (his word) and which are reputable. We all know we can buy very expensive olive oil, and we can buy the cheap stuff at the grocery store. Those cheap brands likely contain a significant amount of cottonseed oil and little actual olive oil. Price doesn’t always indicate quality, either, although it should go some distance that way. If I paraphrase the article, it does indicate you should choose an extra virgin olive oil that indicates an expiration date – the better producers do that – they’ll provide a lot number and a use-by date.

Until the book arrives and I have time to read it, I’ll just have to use my trusted brands. I think I read recently that Costco’s Kirkland brand is a fairly good olive oil – I use it for some things. I have several others than are better oils. I also visit a little olive oil store about 20 miles from our house (they carry just oils and vinegars, under their own labels, mostly infused with herbs, spices, and fruits). You probably know already that you don’t need to use EVOO for frying – you never garner the flavor from it for frying – use a vegetable oil (in fact my most recent Cook’s Illustrated, they tested brands of oil and Crisco’s Natural Blend was the clear #1. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it in any market. Anyway, their test was preparing home made mayonnaise and using the oil for frying. All the oils preformed differently depending on the use, but this one, the Crisco Natural Blend, brought the best flavor to the mayo, as well as frying. Anyway, don’t waste good EVOO for anything unless the flavor is going to come through. You’re paying for that flavor, be it bland or peppery, herby or floral, and you might as well taste it. So that would mean relatively plain salad dressings or drizzles on things. Don’t use it for frying, for baking, or in your favorite carrot cake. Use a very bland oil instead, like the one above. So there’s your olive oil lesson for the day!

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Ah, my mouth is watering just looking at this salad. Love those arugula leaves. And the pear, the Gorgonzola crumbles, and there’s some fresh fennel bits off to the left. The walnuts, well, they’re underneath the pear I think. Altogether delicious.

Almost every upscale restaurant serves arugula in some way, shape or form these days. It’s such an “in” green. Trader Joe’s sells baby arugula, which is the ideal for this salad. You could get all the ingredients there, actually, including the Gorgonzola cheese, pears and fennel. I happen to really like the peppery taste of arugula, but I understand, it’s not everyone’s favorite choice. If that’s the case, just substitute some other green like mache or even Romaine.

The recipe came from the cooking class with James Clark, the chef at Croce’s in San Diego. I would suppose this is one of their signature salads, although since I haven’t been there, I really can’t say for sure. The recipe, though, is from the next cookbook he and Ingrid Croce are publishing – I know that because James made a photocopy of the proof copy. He had explained to us that the previous couple of days he was bleary-eyed from re-reading the cookbook. Again and again. Fixing little things, typo’s and such. Since I was in the advertising business, I know proofreading well!

This salad is just delicious, that’s all I can say. Fresh fennel is finely sliced, Gorgonzola cheese is crumbled, walnuts are toasted, the Champagne vinegar vinaigrette is whizzed up in the blender and you’ll be all set. Plate the salad and add the cheese, walnuts and at the last minute slice the pears. Serve.

What I liked: the crunchy, peppery flavor of the arugula; the Gorgonzola crumbles (maybe because they’re not the norm like Feta or Blue Cheese); the toasted walnuts. Well, and the fennel too. Oh, heck, I just liked it all.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all.

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A really delicious curry-enhanced chicken, vegetable and rice soup. And it’s from Croce’s Restaurant in San Diego. A recipe from Jim Croce’s widow, Ingrid Croce.

Some years ago I wrote up my version of Mulligatawny Soup. It’s very similar to this one – some of the proportions are different, but this one contains carrots (I liked that part), a few different spices (I liked that part too). My recipe is a lower calorie one (using fat-free half and half) and it also includes a bit of apple. Not every Mulligatawny soup has apple. This one uses heavy cream, butter and ample veggies.

I probably wouldn’t have tried this one, only because I have a recipe I make and like. But I was attending a cooking class with Ingrid Croce and her executive chef, James Clark. This was the first course, and I must say, I slurped up every bit in my bowl. If you’re interested, the restaurant is in San Diego, in the Gaslamp District. Not surprisingly, it’s called Croce’s. It’s a jazz bar, and it was suggested that the best night to go there for music is on Sunday. I want to try the restaurant now that I’ve tasted the food from this class. You’ll see two or three more recipes learned in the class eventually. Including an incredibly rich chocolate dessert souffle/lava cake. So stay tuned for that. It was really sensational.

In case you’re interested, Ingrid Croce wrote a book about 16 years ago (15 or so years after Jim Croce died in an airplane accident in 1973). Called Thyme in a Bottle: Memories and Recipes from Croce’s Restaurant, it contains lots of stories about Jim Croce and her recipes, of course. Ingrid was selling her memoir/cookbook for half price at the class, but I actually found a very inexpensive copy through the link above. I love reading cooking stories, and if the two recipes from this class that were hers are any representation, I’ll find other recipes in it that I’ll like too. She and James Clark, the chef, have just finished proofreading a new cookbook. Just an FYI. I think they said it would be out within the next 3-4 months. If you’re interested, I think there will be a class at Great News, the cooking school I go to in San Diego, after the publication.

If you have some chicken meat left over from another meal – and some cooked rice, this soup would be a cinch to make.

What I liked: all the flavors – the curry, the spices, the chicken. The texture too – sort of thick and chewy with the rice. I think this would freeze well too.

What I didn’t like: as is, I think it’s too thick, (and that’s just me – lots of people love a really thick, thick soup) and that’s so easily rectified with adding more broth, so I can hardly say it’s something I dislike. Just adjust the thickness to your preference.

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A new and different way to make a burger. I used beef, but you could easily-enough use ground turkey or a combination of both. There’s a delicious spinach, onion, and mushroom sauce spooned over the top and it’s nestled on a toasted  piece of bread.

When I saw the photo of this recipe at Pioneer Woman in 2011 (she didn’t cook them, she just had a link), the link sent me to Pink Parsley’s blog – she’s the one who prepared this burger. At the time I just saved it in my to-try internet file on my computer. My recipe program (MasterCook) will sort easily enough, so I looked up ground beef recipes and this one sounded good. Oh, yes, indeed it was.

First I must tell you I made a few minor changes to the recipe (I put part of the mushrooms in the sauce; I added another pinch of nutmeg; I used a piece of whole wheat grain bread, regular size, not the Texas toast called for; I added more half and half than indicated to thin out the sauce; I used a 6-ounce pkg of fresh baby spinach, not the 8 ounces called for; and I added 2 more T. of butter to the spinach sauce – after tasting it I thought it needed it).

The burgers are easy enough – some sautéed sliced and chopped mushrooms, garlic, a tiny bit of soy sauce, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper all go into the ground beef mix. I patted them out and used the Cook’s Illustrated technique of pressing the center down (a big dip) since burgers always seem to mound up – it worked like a charm, I must say.

Meanwhile, I made the sauce – basically a white sauce with some half and half and chicken broth, some onion, with a jot of nutmeg and cayenne, the spinach (it’s a lot, but it cooks way down, of course) and some Parmigiano cheese. Very easy to make – and if time permits, you can do it an hour ahead and just reheat. I toasted the bread in my toaster oven, grilled the burgers on a stovetop grill, and served it up. A great recipe.

What I liked: the variety of flavors in the dish – the beef, mushrooms, spinach, the cream sauce that makes it silky easy to eat, and the little bit of crispy toast on the bottom. The flavors were wonderful. Definitely worth making. I’m so glad I have 2 burgers left over for another dinner in a night or two.

What I didn’t like: nada, nothing. A definite make again dish.

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The minute I spotted this recipe I knew I wanted to try it. Fresh thyme in a sweet muffin? It sounded so interesting. Plus some fresh blackberries, which are available in our markets almost year ‘round now. And lemon – we have an abundance of them on our trees, although in this case it was only the zest that was needed. The recipe is in the most recent issue (March, 2012) of Bon Appetit.

Since I love to bake, it was a no-brainer to try this – read the recipe through first (something I often forget to do) – and begin. The crumble topping (cake flour, butter, fresh thyme baking powder, sugar and an egg yolk) is made first and chilled (even a day ahead is okay). The muffin batter has several steps – and in fact this particular batter requires lots of stand-mixer time – 2 minutes of just butter, 2-3 minutes once you add sugar, another 3-4 minutes once you add the eggs and vanilla. Then everything slows down – you add the buttermilk, then the dry ingredients. What it made was a really, really light batter

Meanwhile, the blackberries are halved – that’s not something I’ve ever done before I must admit – and you actually want some of the berries to macerate a bit in the batter to give it some dark berry color. The berries are just folded in, then plopped into lined muffin cups. The recipe indicated using those fancy paper liners – the tall, waxed paper type that makes a very large muffin. I just used regular muffin liners and my regular muffin tin. The chilled crumble is sprinkled on top (about a tablespoon per muffin) and into a 325° oven they went for 40 minutes. I ended up with quite a bit of topping leftover – I suppose I should have made 18 muffins, or even 20 of them so I used up all of the crumble. Don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with the rest of it. It’s too nice to throw out . . . any ideas for me, kind readers?

Since I now have a Thermapen Instant Read Thermometer (wow, is that thing a real beauty – expensive – but it does register temp within about 3 seconds) I use it at any and all occasions. I quickly looked up online what temp the interior is supposed to be of a baked sweet muffin – it said 210°, and at 40 minutes that’s exactly what they were. They cooled in the tin for about 10 minutes, then I took them out and onto a rack while I baked the remaining 4 muffins (the recipe makes 16).

My DH has just planted a new herb garden for me – in two deep and long raised flowerboxes that sit outside on a short wall in our patio, and we have new, tender thyme in one. I chopped up two teaspoons of it (one went in the crumble topping, the other in the muffin batter itself – next time I’d add more).

What I liked: well, I liked the thyme. A lot and I’ve upped the amount in the batter by half (from 1 tsp to 1 1/2 tsp). Loved the blackberries. I’d also add just a bit more sugar. Maybe because an insufficient amount of the topping ended up on top (where there was some sugar) the muffins were just a bit too savory. I’d have to try them again to know for sure. I’ve increased the sugar in the recipe below or serve with a sweetened butter. I liked the silky cake-like texture (from the cake flour and all the long mixing). I also liked that each muffin had just 11 grams of fat! Surprising, when there was a cube of butter in the batter and 3/4 of one in the crumble.

What I didn’t like: really nothing – all the flavors were delish, and the cake so very tender. I might add some toasted walnuts? More vanilla?

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There’s a short story to tell: when I was still in college (oh, many years ago) I worked every Friday night and all day Saturday at Marston’s (an old family-run San Diego department store). I worked in the Personnel Dept. (remember when they used to call Human Resources the Personnel Dept.?). My job was to train new sales employees – things like how to use the cash register (no electronics at all although they were electrically run). And about the company’s general policies including ethics – plus some limited safety info – mostly boring stuff. Anyway, on Saturdays when I wasn’t teaching I’d walk to a diner a few blocks away. They had a Caesar Salad on their menu that I was crazy about. It was just the best. It had all the elements of a perfect Caesar – Romaine, an egg-based olive oil dressing with good Parmesan, some big honkin’ croutons and a strip or two of anchovies on top. And lemon. That began my my appetite for anything Caesar, I’ll tell you. Hence you’ll find many Caesar type dressings here on my blog.

It would logically follow, then, that as I was reading the most recent issue of Bon Appetit, I was motivated by a recipe in the issue for a Parmesan Chicken and Caesar Roasted Romaine (salad). As I’m writing this, it’s not yet “up” on epicurious or I’d link to it. It got me to thinking. I had everything I needed to make this, but I wanted some dressing on the salad. So I improvised a bit, although I roasted the chicken and Romaine as indicated in the recipe. I went to my current favorite Caesar dressing – a Phillis Carey one that is cinchy easy made with mayo as the base. I’ve printed it up below as a separate recipe – you need that recipe IF you like Caesar. Phillis served it on a steak salad (and I wrote it up then as an integral part of that salad) at a cooking class a couple of years ago and I’ve been a fan of it ever since!

It was an easy dinner. Well – let me re-phrase that – it took me one hour to do it all – make the dressing, prep the chicken, make the panko crumb topping, prep the Romaine, heat the oven, roast the chicken, then roast the Romaine, cook some haricot verts (my very favorite recipe, garlic green beans), toss them in a skillet with some garlic and olive oil, plate it, drizzle on some of the Mayo Caesar dressing and serve! Whew! I felt a little like a one-armed paper hangar. Normally time isn’t of an element, but we had choir rehearsal and my magic time is “sit down to eat by 6:00.” We made it at 6:05, fortunately. (As an aside – we had sufficient leftovers of the chicken – so I chopped them up, cut up about a cup of the garlic green beans, made a Romaine salad with tomatoes, celery – and tossed it with more of the Mayo Caesar Dressing – that was out dinner the next night.)

The photo at left shows you one little deviation. I have good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, but I decided to use some Pecorino cheese I bought recently that contains some truffles. You can see some of the truffle stuff (little black specks). Oh does it make this cheese fantastic. It’s called Pecorino al Tartufo. It was sprinkled on top of the salad only – I used good Parmigiano for the dressing.

Once I lightly pounded the chicken breasts, they were placed on a large baking sheet (you need a large one to fit the big Romaine head halves). The panko crumb/cheese mixture was spooned on top and it went into the oven for exactly 10 minutes. The crumb mixture had just started to brown. Meanwhile I had brushed the cut Romaine halves with olive oil. They went on the tray and were baked another 5 minutes. At that point I didn’t think the lettuce had enough color, so I turned the oven on the broil for about 1 minute only (more and the chicken would have turned too firm and the Romaine would have been a black mess). Remove and serve. With the dressing dribbled over the Romaine and some cheese sprinkled on top.

What I liked: the overall taste – but then I love chicken Caesar salad under most circumstances. As long as the dressing is good.

What I didn’t like: not a thing. Delicious.

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. . .

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