Tyler Anderson’s Kale Caesar Salad
Tyler Anderson, ex-chef at Pip’s at the Copper Beech, has opened his new restaurant, Millwright’s Tavern in Simsbury, inspired by the ingredients and culinary history of New England. Here’s his fresh take on Caesar Salad.
Kale Caesar
2 Tbsp chopped raw garlic
3 anchovy filets
1/8 cup malt vinegar
1/8 cup ccider vinegar
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 preserved lemon (skin only chopped) (20g)
1 cup parmesan cheese (microplaned, parm reggiano is ideal)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 egg yolks (farm eggs will not need pasteurization)
1 tsp black peppercorns (toasted and then ground in a spice grinder)
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 Lb Kale (get small kale if you can, if only large is available then de-stem and julienne)
For the dressing:
Make a paste of the garlic, anchovy, and preserved lemon. You can achieve the best paste by using a mortar and pestle or by using the back of your knife, running it back and forth over the product. You still want this to be somewhat “chunky”.
Add the paste to a large metal bowl and whisk together the paste and everything else but the cheese, oil and kale. Once these ingredients are incorporated, slowly whisk in the oil. If you try and add the oil too fast the dressing will break, you want to keep the emulsification. Once all of the oil is incorporated you can whisk in the cheese. Then add salt to taste. This dressing is best the next day and will stay good for up to 7 days.
To assemble:
Toss your kale with a liberal amount of dressing, let salad sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour. Then serve.
This salad is great with just the greens and dressing, but you can do a lot of things with it, be creative and have fun!
Erica’s note: This recipe makes quite a bit of dressing, more than enough for 1 lb of Kale and keeps very well for days.
