Ali and Mitch Torres take the bush goanna and give it a dressing up in this recipe of the traditional Caesar Salad. They replace the chicken and eggs with chunky pieces of barni (much like chicken) and served with a pan-cooked damper. A fantastic summer meal.
Preparation
Cooking
Ingredients
Barni Caesar Salad
- 1 soft Boiled egg
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- ¼ cup Red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 Anchovies in oil
- Cos lettuces
- Barni tail (goanna) cut into slices and cubes
- Parmesan cheese
Caesar Dressing
- 2 tbsp Olive oil (light)
- 2 Bacon rashes (chopped into cubes)
- 3 cloves Garlic – crushed and chopped finely
- 50 grams Butter
- Croutons (bread cut into cubes and toasted)
Pan Fried Damper
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 4-5 cups Self-Raising Flour
- 1/3 cup Milk
- ½ cup Water
- Salt (pinch)
Cook's notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Instructions
Caesar Dressing
In a frying pan add the oil – to this add the bacon until browned but not to crispy. Take out and set aside in bowl.
To the pan add the butter and garlic and cook until both ingredients look soaked with the butter, add to this the cut bread cubes – cook for 5 minutes constantly moving the bread cubes around until they are golden brown.
Then remove the toasted bread bites from pan and set aside.
Barni Caesar Salad
In a blender mix, soft Boiled egg, Red wine vinegar, oil, Dijon mustard, and anchovies to smooth consistency. Set aside.
Break Cos lettuce leaves roughly and put into a large bowl. Arrange the Bread cubes, crispy bacon, with a vegetable peeler add slices of parmesan cheese over top of Cos lettuce arrange cubed Barni over the spaces in the Cos and then drizzle the dressing over the whole of the contents in the bowl.
Pan Fried Damper
In a large bowl – put the flour – make a well in the centre to which the milk should be added – mix it through.Note: it will become sticky – so then you add water as it is needed, if it gets too sticky add small amounts of flour as needed.
Mixing through in a light kneading, but not too much the motion is more of a lifting and folding on the flour mixture, add a pinch of salt.
Note: If you can easily lift the mixture then it is ready.
Remove from the bowl and add to the pan which has been heated and the oil added to.
Once the flour mixture is in the pan – press down with your palms.
Put on lid and let cook for 20 mins – then turn over.
Once damper is a golden brown – it is cooked – you may also want to check with a skewer that it is not sticky in the centre to be sure.
If so let cook for a further 5 mins.
Plate up
Slice damper on a plate: to one side put a handful of the Barni Caesar salad and drizzle extra dressing over the top.
Turn off heat and remove from pan to a board.
