Caesar Salad with Smoked Chicken Thighs

Caesar Salad with Smoked Chicken Thighs

A great weekend lunch for the family or use this recipe when entertaining. A solid crowd pleaser.

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SERVES 4 AS A SHARE PLATE

INGREDIENTS

1 x 560g Darling Fresh Smoke Haus smoked chicken thighs

2 baby cos lettuce heads

3 rashers of good quality smoked bacon

1/3 loaf of ciabatta loaf for croutons

4 eggs

150g parmesan

Caesar Dressing

1 egg yolk

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Juice of ½ lemon

3 anchovies

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp parmesan grated

½ - ¾ cup vegetable oil or keep adding until your required thickness is achieved

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°C. 

Slice the ciabatta into thin slices and put onto an oven tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Bake for about 7-10 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges. Set aside to cool. 

Fill a small pot with water, up to the ¾ mark and add a pinch of salt and about 1tbsp of white vinegar. Bring to the boil then crack and add the eggs one at a time. Poach for about 2-3 minutes or until they are soft poached. You can test this by lifting them out of the water with a slotted spoon and pressing gently on the side of the egg. If they are still soft to the touch, they are good to go, if they are firm, they have cooked all the way through. Set aside.

 Wash the lettuce and put through a salad spinner to remove excess water – this makes a difference to the final salad and won’t make the croutons soggy. 

Cook the bacon in a pan over medium high heat until starting to crisp. Transfer to a chopping board and slice into thin strips, let cool. 

For the Caesar dressing, place the egg yolks, mustard, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice in a small food processor and process until the anchovies have been pureed. Then trickle in the oil slowly and keep processing until all combined and thick. Season with salt and pepper and mix through parmesan. Set aside.

 Heat the chicken thigh as per instructions.

Assemble the salad with lettuce first, slot in the bacon, croutons, chicken, eggs cut in half, Caesar dressing then shave some parmesan over the whole salad with a vegetable peeler.

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