Caesar Salad Espuma

Here's a fun way to eat salad, molecular gastronomy style! Makes an impressive starter for a dinner party or a week night meal. Take the concept and apply it to your favorite salad!

I received a molecular gastronomy kit for Christmas and the nerdy engineer side of me was stoked to bring even more chemistry to my cooking to transform the textures and flavors into unique combinations to excite conversation around the food!

Note: The addition of turkey bacon makes the dish healthier, but feel free to use your favorite bacon!

Thanks to Cuisine R-evolution for the framework of this recipe!

1 egg
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Sweet Hot mustard (the Trader Joes version is awesome!)
1 tsp capers
1 tbl bacon bits (see below)
1.5 tbl lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2/3 c vegetable oil
3 tsp grated parm or romano cheese
1 head of lettuce washed
1 loaf rye bread, crusted and cubed
1 N2O gas cartridge

- Preheat oven to 350 degF
- Cook turkey bacon until crispy, cut into bits and set aside
- Spray bread cubes with EVOO (or toss with your favorite oil), season with S&P, cook until croutons are crispy (15-20 mins), set aside
- In blender, mix first 9 ingredients
- Stream in oil
- Add parm, Xanthan Gum, and the lettuce (Note: Depending on your blender, it may have to be combined in a food processor and then transferred back to the blender to finish)
- Blend until well pureed and pass through a fine mesh sieve
- Pour into a 0.5 liter Culinary Whipper (I use an iSi whipper that is awesome) and set aside for at least an hour (XG needs time to absorb and hydrate to display its full talents)
- Shake for 8 seconds, dispense according to the directions of the whipper, and serve with the croutons and bacon bits

Wines: Curran Grenache Blanc,  Qupe Marsanne

Caesar Salad Espuma with Turkey Bacon Bits and Rye Croutons