Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Green Goddess Caesar Tacos & Award Thank You
















Our 'Green Theme' last week made me think of an old familiar salad dressing. Mean and Green. Now I do not buy bottle dressings anymore, because we might use them once and then they sit until they just fall out of the refrigerator door. On occasion I might use it as a marinade for grilling, but otherwise who knows how long it will sit. Oil, vinegar, seasonings or fresh made is the best!

Doing some research I found two claims to fame for 'Green Goddess' dressing...the first giving credit to an article written in 1948, "The California Cookbook", by Genevieve Callahan, and from a play titled "The Green Goddess" , and attributed to the English actor in 1923, George Arliss.














'I used a classic Caesar recipe and added tarragon, and avocado...he reigns supreme'

Finding that the original recipe included anchovies was quite surprising to me. I like anchovies on occasion now, but as a youngster I would have gagged at the thought of bait in my food. Green was not a color I steered towards either, but I loved it! What does give it that green tinge anyway...tarragon, avocado, or fresh herbs I read about?

Lets give it a try and see! I wanted to put it up against its bottled successor, Seven Seas in the 1970's, but I could not find any (you can buy online); which they do not make but in small quantities and can be found on occasion. As a kid I was often out ruled on the 'dressing in the cart' by the other six in my family and had to eat French dressing regularly.


















If you research the subject yourself you might also think, "This recipe sounds similar to Caesar dressing"... In Dallas for years we had an annual contest called 'The Caesar Salad Contest' for local chefs to enter and the public would come, taste and vote for the winner. This was my inspiration for the contest, but rolled as a cone with an heirloom tomato confit on top. I have used grilled chicken too.















'On wax paper or a Sil-pat you sprinkle 4 " rounds of parm, asiago, and romano cheese in a 350 degree oven till melts and browns on edge...remove'















'Once out of the oven, cool for a few minutes and then you must place them over the side of a plastic bowl to fold in'

Green Goddess Salmon Taco Salad

I made these before for large crowds, and with a wine tasting up against whites. These tacos with any filling are definitely an entertaining and conversation piece. I was over at Sippity Sup the other day and I saw how Greg cooked some salmon that lay across a pillowy bed of white cream with what seemed like a green throw wrapped lovingly about it. The salmon technique was calling out to me, and let me say these tasty pieces of fish on this crunchy mixed cheese shell is great!
















'I will talk more about the rice, but it had a nice nutty flavor and I used no seasonings...I wanted the dressing and cheese to do the communicating'

THANK YOU: I want to thank Kendra @ Homegrown Housewife for thinking of me in her Vintage recipe post on Sunday. We are suppose to pass it on, and since I just did this for St. Paddy's day I will just say 'Thank You' to everyone that follows my post. My blog journey has been great, and am glad we can all share... Being able to communicate about what goes on inside our lives has come so far, and it is nice that we each can express our own views through our very own blog...










Next post I am talking rice...a language I have learned to embrace...