Caesar salad with curry honey grilled chicken and roasted tomatoes with green olive tapenade

I recently started a new job, so I haven't had quite as much time to blog. That's a lie. I've had plenty of time. But I spend it napping, instead. For some reason work makes me want to crash whenever and wherever I have the chance- be that on a back table at the bakery or on my couch, we Bardolphs are champion nappers. We also like to eat. Imagine a wheelhouse run on gravy. Now picture three lazy fucks rolling their eyes at the wheel for even existing. This is us.

 Caesar salad


1 tin anchovies
3-4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 Tbsp Colman's mustard powder
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
Freshly-ground black pepper
1 head romaine lettuce, rinsed and dried
Shaved parmesan
Roasted mushrooms and garlic

Throw the first 6 ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the egg yolk.
While the blender is running, pour the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. The dressing should be creamy-looking and relatively thick. Add pepper to taste.
Dress the lettuce with the dressing and garnish liberally with parmesan shavings. I gilded the lilly with some roasted mushrooms and garlic.

Roasted mushrooms and garlic


8 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
6 cloves garlic, skins on
Canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F.
Toss mushrooms, garlic, and oil on a cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes.
Once the garlic looks golden brown, remove the skin and smash the garlic into a rough paste. Toss again with the mushrooms.

Curry honey grilled chicken


3 chicken breasts, split
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp hot madras curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Kosher salt
1/4 cup honey

Lay the chicken flat in a closed gallon ziploc bag, and pound with the fine end of a meat mallet until the breasts are tender (heh).
Add all other ingredients, and close the bag. Move the contents of the bag around, massaging with your hands, until the yogurt and spices are well-distributed.
Allow the chicken to rest on the counter 30 minutes.
Bring your grill pan up to a slight smoke on medium-high heat, and lay the breasts down gently in the pan.
Grill for 6-8 minutes on each side, getting a good char.
Place on top of your caesar salad.

Roasted tomatoes with green olive tapenade


3 small tomatoes
Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups good green olives
1 clove garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

Oven at 350F.
Slice the tomatoes at 1/4 inch. place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place in the oven.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the olives and garlic together. Add the lemon zest and parsley.
After 15-18 minutes, the tomatoes should be close to done. They will look slightly shriveled. Remove from the oven, arrange on the plate, and top with tapenade.

This caesar salad is the best I've ever made, if not the best I've ever had. Filled with garlic, anchovies, and mustard, it's not for the faint of heart, nor the faint of butt. But if you like garlic, you gon' die.