Caesar Salad Dressing

We are having a run of spectacular summer-like weather right now.

We dusted off the grill (on our NEW DECK! At our NEW HOUSE!!!) and dug out our bags of charcoal this weekend.

As soon as the chicken was settled into its marinade I knew I wanted to have grilled caesar salad along side. We make this pretty often, but I usually dress it with store bought cesar. But, as we were breaking in a new home I decided to try my hand at the real stuff - with loads of anchovies and an egg yolk. I read about 2 dozen recipes. In the end, I took what I thought was best from them all and just went for it. The results were great. Creamy, garlicy, a touch salty. The slightly charred romaine wilts a bit and just soaks up the garlicy dressing.

I whizzed this up in the blender and let it rest a few hours before serving. The garlic flavor intensifies with the rest.

Makes about one cup
Caesar Dressing
2-3 cloves of garlic
juice of one large lemon
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon honey
squirt (a teaspoon?) of dijon mustard
5-10 anchovy filets - drained of oil
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Add garlic, lemon juice, egg yolk, honey,  mustard and anchovies to the blender. Blend about 30 seconds.
2. Add olive oil and blend about a minute, or until it begins to thicken and becomes pale yellow.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning with the salt and pepper.

(To grill the romaine, slice heads in half length-wise. Put cut side down on the grill ( off the direct heat)from 2-3 minutes, or until slightly charred. Douse with dressing, and sprinkle with shaved parmesan cheese.)