Recipe(tried): Caesar Salad

This one does it for me.

Caesar Salad
Please note this recipe uses partly cooked eggs - please be aware of any health risks
Serves 4-6
Large (Romaine) lettuce
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices good bread, crusts removed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 medium size eggs
1 ounce anchovies
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3 large cloves garlic
salt & pepper

Crush the garlic in the olive oil and leave to stand - anything from 2 hours upwards (even days!). Cut the bread into croutons about " square and cook either by deep frying quickly or shallow fry in oil with a little butter a little more slowly (or however you normally make croutons). Place the eggs in a saucepan of cold water, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and let stand for two minutes then cool them with cold running water. While they are coming to the boil strain the oil off the garlic and mix with the lemon juice. Chop the anchovies very finely and add them. Break the cooled eggs into the mixture (scraping out the shells because the eggs will be part set and part runny) and mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste. Take the washed and dried lettuce and tear in into pieces about 2" square (suit yourself) into a salad bowl. Add the dressing and toss well. Add the cheese and croutons and give a final toss before serving

Comment: Until I first tried it I had had no idea that a basic "lettuce and dressing" salad could taste anything other than mediocre, let alone excellent as I think this is. In one of the books I looked in for a recipe (after getting unduly excited about this wonderful new find!) Martha Lomask says "Perhaps no other salad has been so bastardised in ten thousand restaurants" and she frowns on the anchovies and uses "Worcestershire sauce" to give the background tang which is so characteristic of this dressing. So, there you have it, a recipe upon which to try your variations - above it says Romaine (Cos in Europe) lettuce but use any you feel like and for olive oil not everybody likes it pure so I mix mine half and half with grapeseed oil. This was also the first time I ever used anchovies in a dish and for those of you who, like me, went "Ugh , Anchovies?!" my advice is to risk it just this once (and failing that use the Lea & Perrins).
For those of you with a curious turn of mind the other "bastardisations" listed by Ms Lomask are oregano, avocado bits, bacon and scraps of what some-times taste like an old shoe. Apart from the latter you might feel inclined to try a few variations, although I think the basic recipe is good enough to stand alone. For a "classic" Caesar Salad also consult the books of Julia Child